Large-scale failure of Russian banks on December 29, 2025
By ForGeeks
Users of Sberbank Online, VTB and T-Bank apps have reported major service disruptions and difficulties with transfers, payments and logging into banking apps. According to the Downdetector service, the number of complaints from customers rose sharply on the afternoon of December 29, 2025.
On December 29, 2025, customers of three major Russian banks experienced technical malfunctions in their mobile apps and online services, users across the country say. The most widespread complaints came from VTB, Sberbank and T-Bank customers.
According to Downdetector, in the last hours tens of thousands of users have complained of errors when trying to log into banking apps, make a transfer or pay for purchases with a card. The most serious problems have been reported by VTB customers.
The disruption affected residents of Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, the Samara region and other regions. Complaints have also been received about the operation of the banks’ websites and the processing of bank card transactions.
The press service of the National Payment Card System (NPCS) confirmed that one of the banks had a failure in processing card transactions, which may cause short-term difficulties with payment. According to the NSPC, the situation does not affect the safety of clients’ funds.
Representatives of Sberbank said that there were no technical problems on their side. VTB and T-Bank have not yet commented on the situation.
What is known about the problems
- The outage affected the work of VTB, Sber and T-Bank apps and online banks.
- The number of complaints from VTB customers in the last hours is measured in thousands.
- Problems are observed in several major regions of Russia.
- NSPK confirms the failure in card processing, but assures that customers’ money is safe.
