Sberbank joint venture company Yandex.Money is to offer mobile money transfers and support group chats for crowdfunding via Apple's iMessage.
In order to send money to someone, a user opens iMessage, chooses a person from their contacts, selects the Yandex.Money app, and specifies the amount to be transferred. The sender receives a message to confirm receipt and enters their password to complete the transfer.
Apple users can also create a group chat to raise funds for a joint purpose without leaving the messenger by selecting the 'collect money' function. All group participants get a special notification and are able to transfer the money directly from the chat window.
The money transfer feature is available for both smartphones and tablets that have been upgraded to iOS 10.
Yandex.Money, a joint venture between the search engine Yandex and Sberbank, hosts about 28 million user accounts with about 15,000 new accounts opened daily.
The launch of the service comes just days after Sberbank became the first Russian Bank to introduce Apple Pay, providing Apple with a bridgehead into the Russian market for its mobile payments service.