MTS, a leading Russian mobile operator, has launched an online payment system allowing MasterCard and Visa cardholders to pay for hundreds of services both related and unrelated to their MTS mobile accounts.
The system uses a simplified procedure and offers commission fees lower than market average – from 0% to 3% – entering MTS into the important, highly competitive and fast-growing market of electronic payments.
While making online payments with bank cards enjoys little popularity in Russia, a variety of alternative payment options have appeared over the last ten years, from offline electronic terminals such as Qiwi and Cyberplat to virtual currencies such as Yandex.Dengi and Web Money.
MTS designed the system for cardholders who normally use offline payment terminals, the user interface for which gave MTS the inspiration for their design.
MTS’s first payment system, Legkiy Platezh (‘Easy Payment’), launched last July, works differently. It is accessible from mobile devices, not only via Internet. Accounts on the system can be replenished using bank cards as well as MTS mobile accounts.
Source: MTS
