Digital key to municipal infrastructure: over five million people use Moscow Resident Social Cards

In 2022, more than 1.5 million people became Moscow Resident Social Card holders. In total, there are already more than five million Muscovites holding the card, as said in the Moscow City Department of Information Technologies. Most often, Moscow residents use their cards to obtain discounts from loyalty program partners, or make free or preferential use of municipal public transport and suburban trains.

“Since April, Moscow Resident Social Cards have got Russia-made chips. So, we do not depend on imported microcircuits. More than 75 per cent of the cards issued this year contain domestic chips. In addition, since December, applications for a Moscow Resident Social Card have been accepted in soft copy only. Now one can fill out an online application form at any convenient time. More than 65,000 have already taken this opportunity. Next year, we plan to make Moscow Resident Social Cards virtual so that Moscow residents are able to use them on their smartphones, if they wish so, without having a physical plastic card on them,” Ivan Buturlin, CEO of the State Unitary Enterprise Moscow Social Register, says.

This year, most of all Moscow Resident Social Cards have been issued to pensioners, large families, and other preferential categories of Moscow residents-this is over one million cards. Almost 200,000 cards have been provided to schoolchildren, college or university students, postgraduates, residents, and interns. It is they who are the most active Moscow Resident Social Card holders making use of the card advantages most often.

The Moscow Resident Social Card is one of the capital’s key social projects. It is a personalized plastic card which is issued to preferential categories of Moscow citizens and serves as a personal digital key to the municipal infrastructure. It can be used as a free or preferential travel pass in Moscow public transport and suburban trains, and it makes its holder eligible for a discount at 7,500 points of the capital’s sales and service network. It can also be used as an equivalent of a compulsory medical insurance policy in municipal clinics. Moreover, it can be linked to a single library card, and schoolchildren may use it as a school pass or a dining card at school cafeterias, or for free visits to the city museums and exhibition halls under the Museums for Children Program.

To apply for a card, fill out an online application form at mos.ru. A basic or advanced user account will be required. The card will be ready within 30 days after the application submission. The card application/issuance status can be tracked in the user account.