Last month, Yandex.Dengi (Yandex.Money), the electronic currency division of the Russian search giant Yandex, started testing a smartphone-based bank card payment terminal in Moscow taxis, in partnership with SellbyCell, a specialized solution provider.
This new payment method, named ‘Yandex Kassa,’ is available to any Visa or MasterCard card holders, and does not require users to have a Yandex Money account, explained Yandex.Dengi PR manager Asya Melkumova in an exchange with East-West Digital News.
The project is now in its experimental phase, with just four taxis involved so far. “But later, [the Yandex Kassa terminals] could be deployed in up to 300 taxis,” Yandex stated. The company is promoting these readers as “lighter and cheaper than standard bank card terminals.”
Yandex’s initiative is not the first Square-like system in Russia. Among the first movers has been Ukraine’s Privatbank, whose solution iPay is commercialized in Russia with the help of MTS, a major mobile operator. The iPay terminals can be purchased in the operator’s retail outlets in Moscow and the Moscow region for as little as 150 rubles (approximately $5), the Russian business information agency Prime reported. Privatbank hopes to sell some 100,000 devices during the first year.
iPay, the mobile payment terminal launched by MTS and Privatbank
‘Pay-me,’ another device launched last month, is more expensive (1,600 rubles or a little more than $50). It is distributed by Beeline Business, the B2B division of Vimpelcom, another leading mobile operator, but can be used by subscribers of any mobile operator.
Another early mover is ‘2can,’ launched this past September in partnership with Visa and Promsvyazbank, a major Russian bank. In October, the startup attracted an investment from Moscow based investment firm Inventure Partners.
This story was updated on Dec. 20 and Dec. 30, 2012
