This past Friday, the Russian State Duma passed a law to create a national payment card system, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The law took the form of amendments to existing legislation adopted in 2011. The new rules will ensure “uninterrupted transfers of monetary funds within the payment system on the territory of Russia,” …
Russia is setting up its own payment operation and clearing centers to circumvent US-based Visa and Mastercard – and may have its own homemade chip for banking cards as early as next year. According to the Russian business daily Vedomosti, microelectronics developer and manufacturer Mikron Group has high hopes of getting a new chip certified …
Russian-made chips for bank cards could appear in 2015 Read More
Smartfin, a provider of mobile payment solutions in Russia under the brand 2can, has just completed a $5 million Series B round of financing with the participation of previous investors InVenture and Almaz Capital, two major Russian venture funds, as well as investment company ESN Group. The latter, owned by Russian tycoon Gregory Berezkin, has …
Mobile acquiring startup 2can raises $5 million in Series B funding Read More
Last week saw the international turmoil around Ukraine and Crimea affect Russia’s banking system, as the bank card operations of several US-sanctioned Russian banks were blocked by Visa and Mastercard. Seven Russian banks were involved in the suspension, reported Russia Today, citing Timur Batyrev, head of the national payment system department at the Central Bank …
Earlier this week Yandex.Money, a leading Russian virtual currency – in Russian: Yandex.Dengi – announced that its 16 million users can now automatically enjoy a virtual MasterCard debit card, allowing them to make commission-free online purchases worldwide. Yandex.Money users may use their virtual card like any other debit card, with purchase amount deducted from their …
MasterCard offers virtual cards to Yandex.Money users Read More
Moscow, Russia – QIWI plc, (Nasdaq:QIWI) today announced results for the fourth-quarter and year ended December 31, 2013. Fourth-Quarter Adjusted Net Revenue increased 35% to RUB 1,700 million and Adjusted Net Profit increased 33% to RUB 567 Million or RUB 10.69 per share. Full-Year 2013 Adjusted Net Revenue increased 48% to RUB 6,168 Million and Adjusted Net …
IRIS Analytics, a provider of web fraud prevention technology and consultancy services to the payments industry, and Wincor Nixdorf, a provider of IT solutions and services to retailers and retail banking, have struck an agreement to support QIWI, a NASDAQ-listed Russian multi-channel provider of payment services, with complete fraud prevention system IRIS 5 in its …
QIWI teams up with Western solution providers to combat counterfeit banknotes Read More
Spanish bank BBVA has acquired Simple, giving Russian fintech fund Life.SREDA its first exit. BBVA paid $117 million for the American innovative banking app, giving Life.SREDA a 180% return on the investment it made in June 2013. Simple, which was founded in summer 2012, helps clients to control their spending and to meet saving targets. …
Rostelecom is developing its own payment service, two unspecified sources within the telecom operator have told the Russian business daily Vedomosti. Rostelecom Payment System, an interim name for the future product, is expected to start operation in the fourth quarter of this year. Andrey Polyakov, an official spokesman for the operator, confirmed the news, saying …
National payment operator Rostelecom to launch new electronic currency Read More
German startup Kreditech, a German startup aiming to become “the Amazon for consumer-finance”, has entered the Russian market. It offers micro loans to consumers and also provides a credit rating service for enterprise customers. The startup’s founders Sebastian Diemer, Alexander Graubner-Müller and Felix Haas believe that their algorithm, which processes over 8,000 data points in …
German consumer-finance startup Kreditech arrives in Russia Read More
On Jan. 29, the Central Bank of Russia issued an official warning stating that all Bitcoin transactions will be considered potentially suspicious and added that use of Bitcoins in Russia is illegal. The currency is already banned in China, and the Financial Supervisory Authority of Denmark has also issues a statement warning against its use. …
IQcard, a Moscow-based startup offering multifunction bank cards, has been selected as a winner in the Boundary Buster category of the Paybefore Awards. This annual competition confers international recognition in the industry of prepaid, mobile and emerging payments. The awards are presented by Paybefore, a major industry publication.
