Ingenico breaks new ground with domestic processing and cross-border settlement for international payments in Russia

Ingenico opens up Russia to
international merchants

AMSTERDAM,
NETHERLANDS – Media OutReach – 12 December
2018 – Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless
payment, is transforming how international online merchants can do business in
Russia, by offering domestic processing and cross-border settlement for
international payments for the first time.

Russia is
one of the world’s largest and most dynamic ecommerce markets. It is estimated
that ecommerce sales exceeded €28bn last year and with two-thirds of online
Russian consumers shopping cross-border, ecommerce revenues are growing by 17%
a year.

However, it
has been a challenging market for international merchants, without a Russian
legal entity, payments are typically processed as cross-border transactions by
acquiring banks outside of Russia, which significantly impacts authorisation
rates. Even international merchants that have a Russian legal entity face serious
issues around VAT and repatriation of funds remitted locally.

By
partnering with Russia’s leading acquiring banks — including the biggest
acquirer in Europe, Sberbank — Ingenico
is able to process payments for the
majority of Russian issued cards ‘On-Us’. This allows for better approval
rates, improves performance and provides better insight on results. The unique
solution also
enables merchants to convert rubles and remit in the currency of their choice,
without the risk that comes with converting a fluctuating currency
internationally.

“International merchants can now reach Russian
consumers that were previously inaccessible unless they completed complicated
and costly authorisation and legal processes,” explains Gabriel de Montessus, SVP Global
Online (Retail BU) for Ingenico Group. “Our
merchants will enjoy higher approval rates and lower fraud risk thanks to transparent
and direct processing with the top Russian acquiring banks.”

Significantly,
Ingenico is the first international payment service provider (PSP) to process
MIR cards. Supporting Russia’s domestic card scheme is vital given that more
than 49 million MIR cards have been issued since its introduction in 2015.

Now, merchants
working with Ingenico do not have to establish a local entity to accept Visa,
Mastercard or MIR cards, while being assured that personal data is being stored
in compliance with local regulations.

De
Montessus adds: “Every merchant selling
goods in Russia must be compliant withlocal
data regulations, which mandate that all personal data is stored in local data
centres. We’re carefully monitoring the fast-changing environment to ensure
payment practices run smoothly and securely, keeping merchants compliant while
they grow their sales.”

About Ingenico Group

Ingenico Group (Euronext: FR0000125346 – ING) is the global leader in
seamless payment, providing smart, trusted and secure solutions to empower
commerce across all channels, in-store, online and mobile. With the world’s
largest payment acceptance network, we deliver secure payment solutions with a
local, national and international scope. We are the trusted world-class partner
for financial institutions and retailers, from small merchants to several of
the world’s best known global brands. Our solutions enable merchants to
simplify payment and deliver their brand promise.

www.ingenico.com    
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