Sber is the first bank to launch Smart Auto-Payment, a next-gen service, with MegaFon

Sber and MegaFon have co-launched Smart Automatic Payment, a service which maintains a positive mobile phone balance and adds money on time, taking into account all regular debits, to help customers stay connected in any situation without manually checking their balance and payment deadlines.

According to a study, 61% of people occasionally forget to refill their mobile account on time or miss notifications from operators about declining balances. It gets even more complicated when standard fees are combined with subscriptions, paid options, and additional service bundles.

Traditional automatic bill payment is not synchronized with billing dates. It simply tops up the account with a fixed amount on a predetermined date or when the minimum balance threshold is reached. As a result, connection may be interrupted even if a user is subscribed to the service when they are charged before a scheduled top-up.

Smart Automatic Payment radically changes the approach by tracking the balance in real-time and analyzing all upcoming recurring debits in the next 30 days. Using this data, the telco figures out the size of a top-up, taking into account subscription fees, paid subscriptions, additional mobile data, and other monthly services.

The operator automatically calculates the exact top-up amount, which covers projected expenses for the next month and includes a small reserve of RUB 20.

Key advantages of Smart Automatic Payment:

- Takes into account all activated operator services (e.g., additional data) to avoid excessive top-ups

- Automatically removes the number from the financial hold list if occasional expenses lead to negative balance

- Can add money to the balance several times a month as needed, but won’t exceed the limit set by the user

- No commissions charged by either the bank or the operator.

Smart Automatic Payment functions as a personal financial assistant for mobile communication. It predicts expenses, adapts to changes, and guarantees uninterrupted connectivity without any additional actions from the user.

Elena Pilyar, director of Payments, Sberbank:

Sber’s payment strategy aims to simplify financial processes and make them more invisible, freeing customers from repetitive tasks. We strive for complete automation of regular payments, so they are made promptly and without extra effort from the user. The joint project with Megafon — Smart Automatic Payment — illustrates how partnership enhances the technological effect. The service helps eliminate minor daily concerns, freeing up time for truly important matters. This is a clear example of how joint technological solutions and partnerships simplify everyday processes and make them more reliable.

Dmitry Rudskikh, sales director, MegaFon:

We see that users are no longer satisfied with traditional automatic bill payments, which do not take into account the actual expenditure structure and often fail to prevent negative balances. That is why we have created a service that functions as a full-fledged financial assistant, eliminating the need for manual balance tracking.

The new service targets a broad audience but is particularly relevant for those who actively use mobile data, subscriptions, and additional communication services, for whom reliable and continuous mobile number operation is critical in both personal and professional life.

Service management is accessible via the Sber app. Debiting from a bank card and crediting the payment are handled by the bank.