Russia will soon have its first contactless ATMs capable of performing transactions — including cash withdrawals and more — via a smartphone with Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.

According to a press release, Sberbank and Russian Standard Bank launched the NFC-enabled ATMs in a pilot test this fall; it is expected that the two banks will be joined in 2019 by leading Russian financial institutions such as VTB Bank, Credit Bank of Moscow, Bank Otkritie Financial Corp. and others.

In Europe, cardless ATM technology has taken hold slowly and gradually, starting with Spain in April 2011 and peaking in 2017 with adoption by Barclays. Latvia and Estonia in the Baltic region were the last EU countries to launch contactless ATMs in the EU, the release said.

Now, the cardless experience is being adopted by the leading players in the Russian financial sector, according to Alexei Okhorzin, director of the retail product department at Credit Bank of Moscow.

"The introduction of contactless banking instruments is a promising way of development in terms of the payment service format, which meets CBOM corporate goals to provide customers with high-tech and comfortable solutions for everyday life and business," Okhorzin said. "Today, over 80 percent of the bank's customers use various contactless payment services. CBOM is interested in developing contactless operations using smartphones and expanding the capabilities of its mobile bank using popular services such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay."

According to the Mastercard, since the beginning of this year contactless payments via card or smartphone have accounted for more than half of all transactions in Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation estimates that the present share of noncash payments in Russia is nearly 50 percent.