QIWI

Qiwi was one of the most recognisable payment brands in Russia and neighbouring markets, built on a wallet and a large network of self-service payment terminals. It reached brokers as a fast, low-friction way for retail clients to fund an account without a card.

What happened

Cross-border use had already narrowed sharply after 2022, when the international card schemes withdrew from Russia and correspondent banking for payments to foreign brokers was cut. The decisive event came in February 2024, when the Bank of Russia revoked the licence of Qiwi Bank, the credit institution behind the wallet. Wallet balances were caught in the ensuing liquidation and became a claim in an insolvency process rather than money a user could move.

As a route to a foreign broker, Qiwi is closed. Broker pages still listing it are unmaintained.

What traders should take from it

Two separate risks converged here, and both are worth separating clearly:

• Corridor risk. A funding route depends on banking relationships the trader never sees. They close for geopolitical and regulatory reasons and give no notice.
• Custody risk. A wallet balance is not segregated client money and is not covered by a compensation scheme. When the institution behind the wallet fails, the balance is an unsecured claim.

Neither risk is about trading, and neither is priced into any spread. They are avoided by habit rather than by analysis: move money through wallets instead of storing it there, and verify a second withdrawal route while the first still works.

If you are choosing a method now

Open the live cashier of your own funded account rather than a marketing page, and prefer routes that run through genuinely independent banking relationships. A cashier listing five methods that all settle through one partner offers one method.