Earlier this month SBT Venture Capital, the venture arm of Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank, led a $6.5 million investment round for Mobeewave, a Canadian startup that develops fast and secure NFC mobile payment acceptance services. Business angels also participated in the round, but their identity has not been disclosed. Founded in 2012, Montreal-based Mobeewave presents itself as …
Life.Sreda, a Russian fund investing in financial and mobile technologies, has acquired iboxPro, a leading Asian mobile point-of-sale service, and intends to merge it with its Russian portfolio company LifePay. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed, but an unnamed source told business daily Kommersant that it amounted to “up to $10 million.”
QIWI Venture, the investment arm of Russian electronic payment giant QIWI Group, has launched a new acceleration program, Universe 2.0. Like its predecessor, the program is intended to facilitate the quick launch of pilot projects which are looking to work in partnership with the company. QIWI hopes the accelerator will attract both major, established companies and …
MasterCard has agreed to transfer card processing inside Russia to the National System of Payment Cards (NSPC) while Visa is still discussing the matter with the authorities, Interfax.ru reported, citing the Central Bank’s press service. MasterCard’s move will not affect cardholders, Interfax quoted a MasterCard representative as saying. The company previously used its own processing system, which is located …
MasterCard reaches agreement with national payment system; Visa may follow Read More »
The Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor has blocked access to five bitcoin-related websites because the cryptocurrency “contributes to the growth of the shadow economy.” The sites include Bitcoin.org, a primary community resource for the cryptocurrency that’s run by the Bitcoin Foundation, the Bitcoin.it community wiki, the Russian-language BTCsec.com security site, the London-incorporated Indacoin exchange, and Russian bitcoin community site Coinspot.ru — although the …
Russia blocks bitcoin websites over “shadow economy” fears Read More »
Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development has reacted negatively to the bill to ban cash equivalents, including electronic money, such as bitcoins. It said the proposed ban could hit major telecom operators, retailers and banks hard. The Ministry of Finance has developed a draft law on the introduction of responsibility for handling cash equivalents after President …
Yes to bitcoin! Russian ministry says quasi-money ban may endanger banks, retailers Read More »
SBT Venture Capital, the venture arm of Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank, has invested $5 million in fintech service Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP). AMP’s platform allows banks to offer unsecured short-term loans to small businesses, using data analysis to decide whether to offer loans to businesses without a credit history. It was founded in 2009 …
Russia’s SBT Venture Capital invests $5 million in Southeast Asian credit company Read More »
On the domestic market, Yandex Money is the leading Russian e-currency in terms of brand awareness and use, with 87% of Russian Internet users familiar with the brand and 22% using the virtual currency at least once every six months, according to early 2014 surveys.
At first glance, cash-on-delivery (COD) may not look as a relevant payment method for international online stores. Returns and management costs, which can be affordable to e-commerce companies operating domestically, could be out of reach for those operating from abroad, as detailed in our study.
The number of bank cards issued in Russia is higher than the number of inhabitants. Eighty percent of bank cards are either debit cards that do not allow overdrafts or pre-paid cards. Moreover, bank cards are not used overwhelmingly, neither online nor offline, as detailed by EWDN’s study.