MegaFon is working with Mastercard to develop a full service financial marketplace for its mobile network subscribers in Russia... More
MegaFon adds loans to its mobile banking app
Russia
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to launch Brics Pay mobile payment service
Five-currency basket: Brics countries create a single payment service — Izvestia (translation) — “One of the likely scenarios for the project is the creation of a special online wallet that will unite the payment systems of all the Brics countries… The common wallet will work in the same way as existing payment services, such as Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. To this end, a separate cloud platform will be created that will connect the national payment systems of the five countries.”
Russian supermarket chain rolls out open loop fingerprint payments service
Sberbank and Azbuka Vkusa perfect fingerprint payment service — Sberbank — “After the quick registration process, which takes place at a checkout, clients tie two fingerprints to a Visa or Mastercard bank card and confirm the registration by coming up with a password. Payments can then be made at all stores with biometric POS terminals by scanning a fingerprint and confirming the transaction with the password. It is not necessary to use a bank card or a smartphone… The service is already available at 20 Azbuka Vkusa supermarkets, and will be added to more locations soon.”
Visa CEO forecasts ‘significant contactless growth’ in the US
“The US market is poised for significant contactless growth over the coming year,” Visa CEO Alfred F Kelly has told analysts... More
Moscow Credit Bank issues NFC payment rings
Non-contact payment ring of the Moscow Credit Bank — Moscow Credit Bank (translation) — “Visa payment card of the Moscow Credit Bank with support for NFC technology allows you to pay for purchases with one stroke of your hand… To pay for a purchase, it is enough to touch the ring to a terminal that accepts contactless payments. The payment ring is made of impact-resistant waterproof ceramics, so it will become indispensable for athletes and active lifestyle lovers.”
VTB switches on Huawei Pay at retail outlets across Russia
VTB begins accepting Huawei Pay in its network of POS terminals — VTB Bank (translation) — “To start using the service, the customer must be the owner of a China UnionPay card and a Huawei or Honor mobile phone that supports contactless payment technology… VTB’s POS terminal network has more than 180,000 devices. Contactless cards and mobile payment services are accepted by the absolute majority of terminals.”
NXP supplies contactless and NFC chips for World Cup tickets and match balls
PARTNER NEWS: The contactless chips embedded in 2018 Fifa World Cup tickets and the NFC chips in the competition’s Adidas Telstar 18 official match balls have both been supplied by NXP, the chip maker has revealed... More
Russian banks begin rollout of national biometric identity system
Russia’s multi-bank remote customer identification facility, which has been in beta testing since early 2018, has launched with Know Your Customer (KYC) enrolment points now working at more than 400 banks in 140 cities... More
Moscow Metro adds loyalty program to Troika transit ticketing card
Public transport users in Moscow can now earn loyalty rewards as they travel and transact around the Russian capital... More
Football fans use contactless for one in two transactions at World Cup stadiums
Visa data shows one fifth of purchases at 2018 Fifa World Cup use contactless technology — Visa — “Visa, the official payment services partner of Fifa, today released an analysis of foreign travellers’ spending during opening days of 2018 Fifa World Cup. The results found that in the 11 Russian host cities of the tournament, approximately one in every five (17%) purchases with Visa used contactless payment technology, including smartphones, bracelets and rings. In the stadiums themselves, the share of contactless payments was 54%, inclusive of purchases made by fans from Russia and abroad.”
UnionPay promotes mobile payments adoption with discounts at merchants around the world
UnionPay International launches its biggest-scale summer marketing campaign — UnionPay — “Merchants in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Australia and other countries and regions are providing discounts for UnionPay mobile QuickPass. For instance, customers can purchase Aeroexpress ticket in Moscow for only one ruble. Secondly, customers can download u-plan e-coupons that can be used at about 6,000 merchant locations in 17 countries and regions via the app to enjoy the best discount in-store. Thirdly, the app users can check about merchant offers, card-using tips, tax refund guides and other practical information.”
Alfa-Bank introduces instant mobile debit card issuance
Order a card a minute before payment — Alfa-Bank (translation) — “Instant issuing of the card in the application is a breakthrough technology that allows Alfa-Bank customers to order and start using the required bank card in less than a minute… Alfa-Bank is the first in the Russian market to offer its customers this opportunity… The card can be immediately added to Apple Pay and used to pay for purchases using a smartphone wherever contactless payment terminals are installed, in applications and on websites.”
UnionPay sets out its mobile payments rollout plans
UnionPay International launches mobile payment service platform to accelerate rolling out of its mobile payment worldwide — UnionPay — “UnionPay International will introduce Huawei Pay to the global markets this year, and Russia is expected to be the first country outside mainland China where Huawei Pay will be launched. In addition, UnionPay QR code payment will be available in Tajikistan, Japan, Cambodia and Suriname this year… UnionPay International is working with major institutions in Hong Kong, Kenya, and Nepal in jointly developing the international version of the UnionPay app.”
Russian banks prep for launch of national biometric ID platform
Tinkoff Bank takes part in demonstrating a beta version of the Unified Biometrics System (UBS) — Tinkoff Bank — “Rostelecom, together with Tinkoff Bank, VTB Bank and Pochta Bank, has presented a beta version of its Unified Biometrics System (UBS), a digital platform developed at the request of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media and the Bank of Russia. The beta version features all the key components to deliver basic human identification functionality and is ready to be integrated into the banks’ information systems… The commercial launch of the Unified Biometrics System is slated for 1 July 2018.”
Mobile payments drive 60% growth in demand for NFC phones in Russia
In Russia, booming sales of smartphones that support contactless payments — Vedomosti (translation) — “Demand for them is being driven by the emergence of payment systems from Apple, Samsung and Google. Sales of smartphones that support contactless payments using NFC technology (near field communication), in 2017 compared to 2016, grew by 60% in Russia… Over the past year in Russia, about 8.3m such devices were sold.”
Researchers demo continuous user authentication system for smartphones
Russian experts submit ‘impenetrable’ smartphone protection system — Phys.org — “The advantage of the new method by the specialists from MEPhI is continuous protection from outside interference without any additional action by the user… Each person has a unique and inimitable style of handling the phone, and the system is based on identifying these unique characteristics.”
Huawei and UnionPay to expand Huawei Pay to Russia
China’s Huawei Pay debuts in Russia, as first port of call in global push — South China Morning Post — “It is a win-win cooperation between two Chinese companies as we join hands to increase the influence that China wields in the global mobile payment businesses,” said Wang Lixin, a vice-president of UnionPay International… In Russia, UnionPay has 400,000 point-of-sale terminals that can accept the Quickpass payment modes including Huawei Pay.”
Sberbank to build ID platform that supports face, voice and retina biometrics
Sberbank and VisionLabs to build biometric identification platform — Sberbank — “Sberbank announces the signing of a deal to acquire a block of shares in VisionLabs, a global leader of the facial recognition market… The investment in VisionLabs is a major first step by Sberbank to build a biometrics platform of Sberbank’s ecosystem, involving face, voice and retina identification, as well as other biometric factors… This will allow the creation of a unique biometric identifier that will let Sberbank clients access any service.”
Garmin Pay goes live in US, Switzerland, Russia and Australia
Garmin and NXT-ID subsidiary FitPay announce Garmin Pay now live on Garmin Vivoactive 3 smartwatch — NXT-ID and Garmin International — “The new contactless payment capability is powered by the FitPay payment platform and available initially for Mastercard cardholders from numerous issuing banks and credit unions including BECU, Capital One, First Tech Federal Credit Union, and US Bank in the United States, and internationally through Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Cornèrcard, Sberbank of Russia, and Swiss Bankers Prepaid Services Ltd.”
Russia to issue state-backed CryptoRuble digital currency
Russia issuing ‘CryptoRuble’ — Coin Telegraph — “Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially stated that Russia will issue its own ‘CryptoRuble’ at a closed door meeting in Moscow, according to local news sources. The news broke through Minister of Communications Nikolay Nikiforov. According to the official, the state issued cryptocurrency cannot be mined and will be issued and controlled and maintained only by the authorities.”