Do I Pay in Roubles or My Own Currency When Ordering Flowers in Russia?
This question comes up every week at Five Flowers, usually from someone in Berlin or Dubai who wants to send a bouquet of garden roses or peonies to a friend in Saint Petersburg and is not sure whether their card will be charged in roubles, euros, or something else entirely. The short answer is that our prices are set in roubles, your bank converts the amount at its own rate, and a foreign transaction fee almost always gets added on top. The longer answer involves a few details that are worth understanding before you place the order, because they affect what actually appears on your statement and how much you end up paying in your home currency.
Our Prices Are Always Listed and Charged in Russian Roubles
Every bouquet on the Five Flowers website is priced in Russian roubles. When you reach the checkout and enter your foreign card details, the charge that leaves our system is denominated in roubles. We do not convert anything on our side, we do not set an exchange rate, and we do not add a currency surcharge. A bouquet of fifteen white spray roses with eucalyptus costs whatever it costs in roubles, and that rouble figure is exactly what we send to the payment processor. This is standard practice for any Russian e-commerce merchant, and it is worth knowing because some customers expect to see a euro or dollar total at checkout and are surprised when that does not appear. What you see in the cart is what gets charged, in roubles, full stop. The conversion from roubles into your home currency happens entirely on the bank side, after the transaction leaves us. Your bank receives the rouble amount, looks up its current interbank rate, applies its own markup, possibly adds a fixed foreign transaction fee, and then posts the equivalent in your local currency to your account. That process can take anywhere from a few minutes to two business days depending on your bank, which is why the amount showing as pending on your app sometimes looks slightly different from the final settled charge. Neither figure is wrong; they just reflect different moments in the conversion process.
Bouquets we can deliver
How Your Bank Converts the Rouble Charge
Banks and card networks do not use the same exchange rate you see on Google or Reuters. They use what is called an interbank or mid-market rate as a starting point, then apply a spread, which is their profit margin on the conversion. For most European and American cards this spread sits somewhere between one and three percent above the mid-market rate. On top of that, many banks charge a flat foreign transaction fee, typically between one and three percent of the transaction value, sometimes both a percentage and a fixed amount. If you are paying with a card issued in the United Arab Emirates, India, or Southeast Asia, the structure may be different but the principle is the same: your bank does the maths, not us. The card network, whether that is Visa, Mastercard, or another scheme, also publishes its own daily conversion rate, and some banks use that rate rather than setting their own. You can usually find the Visa or Mastercard currency converter on their respective websites and enter the rouble amount to get a rough idea of what the network rate looks like on a given day. Keep in mind that the rate shifts daily, so if you check on Monday and order on Wednesday, the figure will be slightly different. For a bouquet of tulips or freesias, the difference will be small. For a large arrangement of garden roses or a subscription of weekly deliveries, it adds up and is worth checking in advance.
What Appears on Your Bank Statement
Your statement will typically show two pieces of information: the amount in your home currency and a note that the original transaction was in a foreign currency. Some banks display the rouble amount in brackets or in a second line; others only show the converted total and bury the original currency in the transaction detail screen. If you open the individual transaction in your banking app and tap through to the full detail view, you will usually find the original rouble amount, the exchange rate that was applied, and any fees that were added. This is useful if you need to report the expense or if you want to compare what you paid against the mid-market rate. The merchant name that appears will reflect our payment processor rather than the Five Flowers shop name in some cases, which occasionally causes customers to contact us thinking there has been an error. There has not; this is simply how payment processing works when a foreign card is used with a Russian merchant. If you see an unfamiliar company name on your statement alongside a charge that matches the rouble value of your bouquet, it is almost certainly your order. We recommend noting the rouble total before you complete checkout so you have a reference point. Customers ordering lilies, ranunculus, or mixed seasonal arrangements sometimes forget the exact amount by the time the statement arrives, and having that number written down saves a support conversation.
Cards That Work and Cards That Do Not
Not every foreign card works smoothly with Russian merchants, and this is something we are transparent about because it affects whether your order goes through at all. Since 2022 the international operations of Visa and Mastercard in Russia have been suspended, which means cards issued outside Russia on those networks cannot be processed by most Russian acquiring banks in the traditional way. Five Flowers uses a payment gateway that accommodates international customers, but the available methods depend on which country your card was issued in. Cards from certain countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, generally work without difficulty because those banking systems remained connected to Russian processing infrastructure. Cards issued in China on the UnionPay network also work at many Russian merchants. Cards from the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia face more friction. If your card is declined at checkout, the most reliable workaround is to use an international payment service that can bridge the gap, or to contact us directly so we can discuss the available options for your specific situation. We have delivered peonies, hydrangeas, and orchid arrangements to recipients all across Russia on behalf of customers paying from abroad, and we have worked through most of the edge cases. The key is to try the payment before the delivery deadline rather than at the last minute, because troubleshooting a declined card takes time and fresh flowers have a fixed window.
Timing the Order When You Are in a Different Time Zone
Saint Petersburg runs on Moscow Time, which is UTC plus three hours and does not observe daylight saving. If you are ordering from London in winter, you are four hours behind us. From New York you are eight hours behind. From Tokyo you are six hours ahead. This matters because our same-day delivery cutoff is not midnight your time; it is based on when we receive the order relative to Saint Petersburg time. A customer in Los Angeles placing an order at nine in the evening local time is placing it at five in the morning Saint Petersburg time the following day, which is actually fine for morning delivery. A customer in Paris placing an order at noon local time is placing it at two in the afternoon Saint Petersburg time, which still allows for afternoon delivery. The confusion usually happens when customers assume the cutoff is in their own time zone and miss it by several hours. We recommend converting to Saint Petersburg time before you decide whether to order for same-day or next-day delivery. For perishable flowers like anemones, sweet peas, or garden roses that have already been cut and conditioned, a one-day delay because of a missed cutoff is not catastrophic, but it does mean the recipient gets the bouquet a day later than intended. If the delivery is for a birthday or anniversary, that day matters. Check the time zone, place the order with a buffer, and if you are uncertain, message us and we will confirm the earliest available slot.
Reducing What You Pay in FX Fees
There are practical ways to reduce the currency conversion cost when ordering from abroad, and none of them require you to open a Russian bank account. The most straightforward option is to use a card or account that does not charge foreign transaction fees. Several digital banks and travel-focused cards, particularly those popular in Europe and the United Kingdom, pass through the interbank rate with no added percentage. If you already have one of those cards and it works with our payment gateway, you will pay the network rate and nothing more. A second option is to check the Visa or Mastercard daily rate before you order and compare it to what your regular bank charges. If the difference is meaningful, it may be worth using a different card. A third consideration is order size. If you are sending flowers to someone in Russia on a regular basis, combining a larger order rather than placing several small ones reduces the number of fixed fees you pay. A single arrangement of mixed tulips and ranunculus costs one fee; three separate smaller orders cost three fees. This is particularly relevant for customers who send weekly bouquets to family members. Finally, be aware that some banks classify Russian merchant transactions under a special category that triggers a higher fee than standard foreign transactions. This is not something we can control, but if you call your bank and ask how they categorise Russian rouble transactions, they will tell you, and you can decide whether to use a different payment method.
What to Check Before You Confirm the Order
Before you click the final confirm button, there are four things worth verifying. First, note the rouble total shown in the cart and take a screenshot or write it down. This is your reference if the statement amount looks unexpected later. Second, check whether your card issuer has flagged Russian transactions as requiring pre-authorisation or a phone call. Some banks, particularly in the United States and Canada, block foreign transactions by default and require you to notify them in advance. A declined charge at checkout does not mean the order went through; it means you need to resolve the block and try again. Third, confirm the delivery address is complete and written in a format our team can use. Russian addresses follow the pattern of city, street, building number, apartment number, and floor if relevant. Missing the apartment number on a bouquet of tulips or peonies means the courier cannot complete the delivery and the flowers wait in a cold van while we try to reach someone. Fourth, double-check the recipient phone number. We call or message ahead of delivery, and if the number is wrong or has no international prefix removed, the delivery gets delayed. A fresh arrangement of roses or freesias holds well in our temperature-controlled transport for a reasonable window, but not indefinitely. Getting these details right at the point of order is faster than fixing them afterwards.
Ordering flowers in Russia from a foreign bank account is straightforward once you understand that the charge always leaves our system in roubles and that everything else, the conversion rate, the fee, and what appears on your statement, is handled by your bank. We have no control over and no visibility into your bank's FX markup, but you do have the ability to check it in advance, choose a card that minimises fees, and time your order correctly relative to Saint Petersburg time. The flowers themselves, whether that is a hand-tied bunch of white peonies in May or a structured arrangement of garden roses in November, are prepared and dispatched the same way regardless of where the payment originates. The currency question is a banking question, not a florist question, and now that you know how it works, it should not slow you down. We deliver bouquets across Russia in 1–2 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Will I see the rouble amount on my bank statement?
Most banks show the converted amount in your home currency as the main figure, but if you tap into the full transaction detail in your banking app you will usually find the original rouble amount and the exchange rate that was applied. Some banks display it automatically in brackets next to the converted total. If you need the rouble figure for records, note it at checkout before confirming.
Can I pay in euros or dollars instead of roubles?
No. Five Flowers prices and charges exclusively in Russian roubles. There is no option to select a different currency at checkout. Your bank handles the conversion automatically when it processes the rouble charge. If you want to estimate the cost in your currency before ordering, use the Visa or Mastercard online currency converter with the rouble total from the cart.
My card was declined. Does that mean the order went through anyway?
A declined card means the payment was not taken and the order was not placed. Nothing is charged on a declined transaction. The most common reasons are a bank block on Russian merchant transactions or a card network that is not currently supported. Contact your bank to lift any block, then return to checkout and try again. If the problem persists, contact us directly.
Are there cards that work better for paying Russian flower shops?
Cards issued in Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan on local networks generally process without difficulty. UnionPay cards issued in China also work at most Russian merchants. Cards on Visa and Mastercard issued outside Russia face restrictions introduced in 2022. Digital bank cards with no foreign transaction fees are worth using if they are compatible with our payment gateway.
How far in advance should I order if I am in a very different time zone?
Convert to Saint Petersburg time, which is UTC plus three, before deciding on same-day or next-day delivery. If you are more than six hours behind Saint Petersburg, ordering the evening before your intended delivery date is usually the safest approach. This gives our team full working hours to prepare the arrangement and schedule the courier without rushing against a cutoff.
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