In this article I would like to introduce you one of the most popular Russian e-payment systems — Yandex.Money. You will learn how to register and create a wallet in Yandex.Money and how to top up your balance.
Yandex.Money is the main rival of WebMoney and Paypal on the Russian market of electronic payments and is quite popular among Runet users. Thousands of Russian e-commerce websites and internet services support Yandex.Money payments. Nowadays it is also one of the most popular user-to-user e-payments services in Russia. Yandex.Money is safe and user-friendly.
Signing up in Yandex.Money
To begin registration, go to http://money.yandex.ru. If you see a website in Russian language you can switch it into English in the lower right corner, by clicking on the flag:
Now click Open a Wallet button. In order to register in Yandex.Money you need to either create an email account on Yandex (just like for any Google service you need a Gmail account) or you can login using your social network accounts, just like me on this screenshot:
If you prefer to create an e-mail account, fill in the form. If you have Yandex e-mail account, click I already have an account and enter your username and password. Then you must enter the correct mobile phone number, as you will receive a confirmation code.
Immediately after you submit the form your account will be created and you will be taken to the Yandex.Money main screen:
Account status and payment limits
In Yandex.Money user can have three status of account: anonymous, reviewed (available only for Russian citizens) and identified. Immediately after registration you have an anonymous status, which only allows you to top up your account, and then spend the money, for example, in online store, which accepts Yandex.Money. But you can’t accept money from other users, or send money to them.
To be able to transfer money to other users, you should pass the identification process. In addition, you will also increase the limit for bank transfer (up to 200 000 rubles), limit of payments in online stores (up to 250 000 rubles) and the transfer limits for other Yandex.Money users (up to 400 000 rubles).
Identification of Yandex.Money account
Unfortunately, for users outside Russia the most convenient way of identification is sending documents to the Yandex office in Moscow. The current list of documents you will find here.
I’d only mention that it is not as difficult as it seems. What should you do:
- fill in and print out a short application https://money.yandex.ru/i/forms/eng_identification_application.pdf
- find a Russian translator to do the translation of your passport (page with photo and signature and page with information about your registration)
- notarize your passport copy
- send application and notarized passport copy to the address mentioned here.
How to top up your Yandex.Money account?
Citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Turkey can top up their accounts using VISA/MasterCard. For the rest of the EU countries and the US you have two options:
- receive a payment from another Yandex.Money user;
- make a bank transfer;
- user online e-money exchanger, for example https://www.bestchange.ru/paypal-usd-to-yandex-money.html
So, to top up your account with bank transfer you can find the current bank details here (if you have Russian interface, you can change the language at the bottom right, clicking on the flag). Remember that your bank charges a fee for a foreign transfer. For example, in case of Raiffeisen Bank in Poland, it charges ~17 EUR.
If you’re going to make a bank transfer in rubles, your bank will ask for the VO code. VO codes are defined by the Central Bank of Russia and they are used to describe the subjects of payments. So, in this case the proper code is “VO99090”. Remember to add this line in your payment details.
If you have any questions on how to use Yandex.Money, please leave a comment below or write me an email.
Hello sir
I am shoaib from pakistan can i use yandex wallet in pakistan??.?
Hi Shoaib,
Sure, why not. You can top up your Yandex account using bank transfer from any country.
thank you for reply me but how can i identify my account of yandex wallet i have no any idea for identify my account so sir can u help me????
Hi, in the text there is an instruction. Have you tried it?
Hi, I’m from Turkey. I add my bank card. But yandex.money wants passaport for buying anything. What can I do for this?
Hi, you should verify your account to pay with bank card. Please contact the Yandex.Money support for help.
Wondering if you can help me. I would really appreciate it. Got some money in a yandex account, Is there any way I can use it without verification? (AM not russian, and verification would cost way too much)
IS non verified useable IN store only? or how do russians normally use it?
Thanks
Hi Bryce,
Unfortunately with anonymous account you can pay only in Russian stores. You can find more details about it here: https://money.yandex.ru/doc.xml?id=523691#anonym
Kak ja magu preslat cvam moj ID ?? u mena jest dengi na konte nu ja nemagu neccevo snime delot poka neaktizirvon moi id .. pomogite ppazalusta . spasibo
Hi Konstantin. One of my friend has a revieved yandex account, but when he tired to transfer 55000 rubles from Italy with his bank card to an russian yandex wallet numbe,r yandex tells him that he can only send 15000 rubles. What could cause that, maybe he should top up his yandex wallet account first, and then he could manage the whole transfer? Is there a way to transfer 3 times 15000 rubles and one time 10000 rubles in one day? Thank you for your help.
Hi Matt, I remember that we’ve discussed your friend’s issue by email. Did you find the solution?
hello how can I transfer yandex money to a paypal account
Hello Mark,
Try these exchangers: https://www.bestchange.com/yandex-money-to-paypal-usd.html
hello sir. how can i add money on my yandex wallet? i have earned thousands of rubbles from a russian advertising company site. How can i transfer it? what are the processes?
Hi, you want them to transfer this money to you? Give them your Yandex.Money wallet ID. Then you can exchange it to Paypal (link in the post).
Hello can i link yandex card to paypal and withdraw paypal to it please help
Hello. Sorry to bother you. i Want to transfer money from wallet to wallet. i AM a US citizen and my lady is from Crimea. She has a wallet account. I know i need to notarize my passport and have it translated. What is an apostille?