Megafon, a leading Russian mobile operator, has shut down its mobile payment platform ‘Megafon Money.’ This service will be replaced by Visa Qiwi Wallet — the electronic wallet offered by payment operator Qiwi in partnership with Visa — “with additional specific Megaton features,” Russian business daily Vedomosti reported yesterday.
The service has been judged redundant since Megaton subscriber got the possibility to connect their mobile account with the Qiwi wallet in early 2015. The Megaton payment platform attracted just 100,000 subscribers, according to Megaton executives interviewed by Vedomosti. Meanwhile, last year, no less than 10 million Megaton subscribers in total settled goods or services from their mobile phone account, up 15% from the previous year.
The ‘Megaton Money’ service was launched in 2012, as Megaton’s competitors Beeline (VimpelCom) and MTS were developing their own payment platforms (respectively, ‘Ruru’ and ‘Legkiy Platezh’).
In June 2015, VimpelCom also launched a mobile payment wallet in partnership with Visa Qiwi Wallet, but does not consider it to be redundant with ‘Ruru.’
Neither MTS nor VimpelCom intend to shut down their mobile platforms, Vedomosti learned from company representatives.
