Tinkoff acquires majority stake in loyalty, contactless app Koshelek

By Sunniva Kolostyak

Russian FinTech Tinkoff Group has announced that it has become a shareholder of Beskontakt LLC, the developer of popular app Koshelek, following an acquisition of a majority stake.

The Koshelek app is a leading aggregator of banking cards and retail loyalty programs in Russia and Belarus, with 20 million users. It reports the highest number of users of any app in Russia and the CIS.

The deal with Tinkoff was closed on 29 April 2021 and the transaction terms are to remain confidential. But, as part of its partnership with Tinkoff, Koshelek will begin integrating user-friendly financial instruments into its service offering, including buy-now-pay-later payment plans, varied cashback options, and Tinkoff Target programs.

Moreover, Tinkoff said Koshelek users will benefit from a seamless customer experience within a single mobile app, while its new features will expand opportunities for retailers to develop co-branded programs and boost sales.

Koshelek helps users to rid themselves of plastic and transition entirely to digital cards. To receive a discount at checkout, the user simply needs to show their discount card on their smartphone screen, and pay with a tokenised debit or credit card by holding the smartphone close to the contactless payment terminal. The application offers retailers access to a new audience, alongside savings on loyalty and discount cards and better customer communication. Koshelek partners with 19 of the 30 largest loyalty programs in Russia.

The Koshelek team, including its co-founders Kirill Gorynya and Filipp Shubin, will remain autonomous and continue to develop the company’s business. The company’s current development strategy will remain intact, and the platform will remain open and independent to encourage new customers to engage with banks that participate in the app’s Koshelek Pay service.

Commenting, Oliver Hughes, CEO of Tinkoff Group, said the companies will cooperate closely for mutual gain. Tinkoff will share the groundwork it has laid in business process optimisation as well as its expertise in implementing cutting-edge IT solutions to ensure Koshelek continues to develop rapidly.

“We already plan to integrate Tinkoff’s financial service offerings into the Koshelek app, in order to accelerate its development and enable Koshelek to offer its customers great deals and cashback. The Tinkoff and Koshelek teams will present their first joint project at SPIEF 2021. We have no doubt that our partnership will be extremely beneficial to both companies, as well as to our customers, who remain our top priority,” Hughes said.

Also commenting, Kirill Gorynya, Co-founder of Beskontakt LLC, said: “We are confident that this new partnership will not only help Koshelek to scale its market presence but also to increase its value to users by merging all checkout stages – from displaying a loyalty card to processing payment – into a single convenient, safe and easy-to-use scenario. Regardless of their smartphone model and brand, Koshelek users will soon be able to receive discounts, accrue and spend bonus points, pay by instalments, receive cashback and more. I would like to emphasise that Koshelek will remain a completely open and independent platform, ready to integrate the services and solutions of our business partners, including banks and financial institutions.”