Russia is the largest country in the world. Fintech growth in Russia has gone unnoticed for a long time. There are various social and economic factors contributing to that. Though some people think that Russia fintech industry has a long way to go, the country has a great potential to catch up and build a conducive environment for fintech innovation.
Russia’s largest bank has shown a keen interest in blockchain and bitcoin. SBT Venture Capital, a fund backed by Sberbank, announced that it will be looking at opportunities to implement fintech.
There are various fintech players in Russia that are driving innovation. The main fintech companies in Russia are:
LifePay
Certified by MasterCard and Visa, LifePay is a mobile solution that allows credit card payments. The firm allows credit card payments on smartphones.
Touch Bank
This is an online retail bank that has been operating in Russia since last year under license of OTP bank. Touch Bank is among the leading banks in the Central and Eastern Europe.
QIWI
QIWI provides next-generation payment services in CIS and Russia. It boasts of having integrated proprietary network which allows payments services across online, mobile and physical channels. The company has deployed over 149,000 kiosks and terminals, more than 16.7 million virtual wallets, and enabled merchants to receive more than RUB 70 billion in electronics and cash payments monthly from about 57 million consumers.
Blackmoon Financial Group
This is a market lending platform that allows investors to fuel consumer loan portfolios in CIS and Europe with a proprietary technology solution, technical support , and risk analysis toolkit.
MILI
MILI is a Russian company that provides services for micro-finance. The firm’s technology enables it to give loans to social networks active users.
Rosmicrocredit
Rosmicrocredit company is an online payday lender that provides s short-term personal loans to customers in Russia.
Dengi Online
Dengi Online is a payment system that offers payments services for all websites. It has offices in CIS, Europe, and the USA.
Platiza
Platiza offers short-term payday loans. Funds are transferred to the consumer’s Visa Qiwi Wallet or debit card after an online identification.
Moneymail
Moneymail allows payments to be made instantly. Once users register on their website, they can use online shops, pay via credit cards, pay for cell phone services and generate invoices.
Fintech companies are evidence that Russia might rise to be a global fintech center in 2025. Following the decision of UK to exit the EU, the race to replace London as the world fintech capital is now on. Russia has some chances of taking on this role.
In April 2016 at the Bitcoin and Blockchain conference that took place in Moscow, various firms shared their interest in contributing to the technology development in the country. Already Russia has around 500 000 Blockchain users.
With government support through the introduction of friendly regulations and attractive tax policies, Russian might increase its chances of becoming the world’s fintech leader.
