Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, today announced that it has partnered with Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private commercial bank, to enable international merchants to process card payments locally rather than as a cross-border payment.
The partnership sees Alfa Bank join Ingenico’s global network of acquiring partners, and with all technical connections now completed, merchants will be able to start local processing locally from Q1 2018.
With a population of 143 million people generating an estimated 28,83 billion Euros in eCommerce sales in 2017, the Russian market represents a significant opportunity for international merchants. The eCommerce growth rate in Russia is outpacing the European average at 17%, and almost 2 in 3 online consumers in Russia shop cross-border, indicating an appetite for international brands*.
Ingenico Group processes online and mobile payments for many of the world’s largest online businesses. While many of these companies already sell to Russian consumers, payments are often processed as cross-border transactions. Simply by switching to local processing, these merchants can increase success rates and reduce risk, while improving the consumer experience. And with Alfa Bank fully integrated as a local acquirer for Ingenico, no further technical implementation is required on the side of the merchant.
“Russia is a challenging market, combining tremendous potential for international merchants with significant barriers to entry. Our clients have been looking for ways to optimize their operations in Russia for years,” said Mike Goodenough, Head of Strategic Partnerships for Global Online Businesses, Ingenico Group.. “Alfa Bank is one of Russia’s most innovative, technically advanced banks and a top 3 acquirer in the local market. By partnering with Alfa Bank, we can now offer our merchants a unique solution that is easy to implement and will immediately show results.”
“Russian consumers enjoy shopping online and increasingly purchase from international merchants, but the payment process can be challenging when the acquiring bank is outside of Russia,” said Aleksey Golenitchev, Director of e-commerce monitoring at Alfa Bank. “Ingenico works with many of the world’s biggest online merchants, and together we can connect these merchants to Russian consumers, with our domestic acquiring capability enabling a seamless process that benefits all parties.”