Russian electronic payment company Qiwi announced on Tuesday it has issued Qiwi Visa, a new type of plastic card, in partnership with global payment giant Visa.
Using the new card provides owners of Qiwi electronic wallets (‘Qiwi Koshelek‘) with the same advantages as a standard Visa card. Card holders can make purchases at online as well as offline retailers and withdraw cash from ATMs all over the world.
Qiwi made significant steps recently to integrate its payment systems with payment card companies. In February of this year, Qiwi and Visa announced the successful transfer of funds from a Qiwi online wallet located in Russia to a Visa card account at a Ukrainian bank.
In July, Qiwi announced that its users can transfer money from their Qiwi electronic wallets to Mastercard and Maestro cards accounts issued by banks from Russia and 24 other countries, primarily in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.
“The Qiwi Visa plastic card is an important step towards the creation of a universal payment ecosystem,” commented Qiwi Business development VP Yury Demidovich.
Established in late 2007 following the merger of OSMP and E-port payment systems, Qiwi initially developed a nationwide network of offline electronic payment terminals. Russians are accustomed to paying for virtually everything through these machines, from mobile phone bills and orders at e-commerce sites, to utilities, taxes, and fines. Over the last few years, Qiwi has grown internationally as well as online through its electronic wallets. As a result, it has moved towards becoming a universal payment system by allowing its users to transfer money to or from their accounts at banks, mobile operators, and virtual currencies.
