Last month Ingenico Group, a global leader in seamless payment, launched a domestic processing and cross-border settlement offer to make easier international payments involving Russian online consumers.

The offer is intended for international merchants without a Russian legal entity to avoid the cross-border transaction fees that are imposed by acquiring banks outside of Russia.

As well, Ingenico helps international merchants with a Russian legal entity deal with issues related to personal data treatment and storage, VAT, and the repatriation of funds remitted locally.

The 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.”

Ingenico, which established partnerships with Alfabank and Sberbank (the largest bank in Russia and Europe) one year ago, has connected its solution to “a majority of Russian cards directly,” the company’s press service told East-West Digital News.

The offer is fully compliant with Russian personal data legislation, insists Ingenico.

Asked how its new offer differs from that of other PSPs, Ingenico told us that it “lowers scheme fees and improves approval rates.” It also provides “better insight on results.”

Through its network of acquiring partners, Ingenico is active in a range of Central and Eastern European countries, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, as well as in Latin America.

In late 2018, Ingenico became the first international P2P to process MIR payment cards issued by Sberbank. Thus, foreign e-merchants may accept payments from dozens of millions of Russian MIR cardholders.