MobiDengi, a major Russian electronic payment service provider, has teamed up with MasterCard to launch ‘MasterCard*Card2Day,’ a pre-paid virtual card that enables online purchases worldwide. The card is available to any subscriber of Russia’s three main mobile operators: Beeline (a brand of Vimpelcom), Megafon, and MTS.
A convenient feature of the MasterCard*Card2Day card is that its number is based on the card holder’s own mobile phone number. The card also offers a high level of security, MobiDengi emphasizes, with a dynamic CVC2 code sent by SMS to the cardholder to authorize each payment, and another SMS sent after each transaction.
In addition, the MasterCard*Card2Day security protocol is connected to an international fraud monitoring system.
The virtual card account can be replenished from mobile accounts, cash payment terminals, and ATMs, as well as from other MasterCard accounts. Commission fees, which vary depending on the replenishment method, can be significant: up to 6.95% of the amount transferred to the card from a Beeline mobile account.
MobiDengi’s initiative illustrates the growing interconnection between payment methods in Russia. In particular, over the last couple of years, MasterCard and Visa have issued a variety of new products – virtual cards as well as physical plastic cards – with several payment companies, from cash terminal and electronic currency operator Qiwi to electronic currency giant Yandex.Money (‘Yandex.Dengi’) and mobile operators.
- RUSSIAN E-COMMERCE REPORT 2012 – The total volume of Russian online retail reached 310 billion rubles, a little more than $10 billion, in 2011, up 25% at least from the previous year. EWDN has published an in-depth research on Russian e-commerce, including a detailed overview of the offline, online and mobile payment methods used by e-retailers. To receive free insights or to order the full version, please contact us at [email protected].
