Top 3 Financial Technology companies in Russia

By Megha Bhattacharya

Russia has seen rapid technological developments along with a boom in its financial technology (FinTech) and BigTech sectors. According to a study, money transfers and payments are the most popular financial service among Russians, as 90% of the country’s residents have used the service at least once. The awareness of other FinTech services in the country ranges between 81% and 86%.

Here are the top 3 financial technology companies in Russia –

1. Tinkoff

Neobank Tinkoff, formerly Tinkoff Credit Systems is a Russian commercial bank based in Moscow and founded by Oleg Tinkov in 2006. It was established as a branchless credit card issuer. The neobank offers a digital ecosystem of financial and lifestyle products and services.

Recently, Tinkoff announced the launch of online and offline payment service for legal entities – Tinkoff Checkout. The new service is expected to operate as a one-stop-shop for companies, combining both existing payment technologies of the Tinkoff ecosystem and new solutions, including services provided by CloudPayments, a leading Russian online payments company.

Tinkoff Bank is part of London-listed TCS Group Holding PLC. TCS Group also includes virtual mobile operator ‘Tinkoff Mobile’, direct insurer ‘Tinkoff Insurance’, and ‘Tinkoff Software DC’, a network of development hubs across Russia. Using its platform, Tinkoff sells both its own products and services and those of its and partners to customers across Russia.

The Group serves its customers remotely via online channels and its call centre and operates a network of over 2,500 “smart couriers’​’​ to ensure smooth delivery of its products. The network covers all of Russia and allows next day delivery to most customers. They do 20,000 deliveries per day, covering 2,100 locations.

2. Sber Bank

Sberbank is a state-owned Russian banking and financial services company headquartered in Moscow. The company was known as “Sberbank of Russia” until 2015. Sberbank has operations in several European and post-Soviet countries. Last year, the Bank rebranded to “Sber” with an aim to become a technology company and compete with fellow FinTech companies. The move arrived a few months after its official decoupling with Yandex, one of Russia’s Big Tech firms.

Recently, Avaloq announced that Sberbank (Switzerland) has gone live with its Software as a Service solution. The implementation is expected to boost the financial institution’s growth project. Headquartered in Zurich, Sberbank (Switzerland) provides a range of corporate client and financial-market services that include trade finance, structured finance, transaction banking and global market products. It is a part of Sberbank Group, a banking group in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe.

Sberbank also recently joined the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council in a bid to boost card data security mechanisms worldwide. Sberbank, as a member of the Council, aims to continue its contribution to the development and adoption of industry’s security standards. Sberbank, as a PCI SSC member, is expected to collaborate with around 800 member companies for boosting payment security throughout the world.

3. Yandex.Money (YooMoney)

Yandex.Money is an electronic payment service in Russia, aiming to offer reliable methods of paying and accepting payments online from bank cards, e-wallets, mobile phone balances, and in cash via payment kiosks. The service is the joint venture of Russian search engine Yandex, and Sberbank. Currently, Sberbank owns a 100% stake in the company.

Yandex.Money has a B2B service Yandex.Checkout, launched in 2013, a payment aggregator for online stores and other businesses that need payments on their online platforms. Recently, Yandex.Checkout announced the launch of Split Transaction, a new solution for marketplaces and online platforms. The company stated that the new solution will automatically split money between different sellers whose goods have been paid for in a single order via one transaction. The solution is expected to help platforms in managing the financial flows between sellers and buyers as well as the flow of documents.

Sberbank also announced that it has expanded its B2B Payments offering scope in partnership with Yandex.Checkout. The service aims to enable companies in conducting online payments as well as let online stores and service suppliers accept payment from corporate customers and was only limited to companies holding an account with Sberbank. The Bank states that the enhanced offering will allow vendors affiliated to any Russian bank account to accept online payments from corporate clients.

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