Russian tech giants Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Ozon and Wildberries are developing their own fintech services in an expansion that could put them in stiff competition with the country’s leading banking institutions, Forbes Russia reports.
- NASDAQ-listed Yandex provides services ranging from music streaming to express grocery delivery. After failing to implement joint projects with Sber and Tinkoff last year, Yandex continues to seek ways to launch financial services either organically or through mergers and acquisitions.
- Mail.ru Group recently announced that it has signed on to create two joint ventures in payment and finance with USM holding, AliPay (Ant Group), Russian cell phone operator Megafon and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
- E-commerce major Ozon, which had a wildly successful IPO in the United States last November, has been expanding fintech services for buyers and sellers on its platform. These include Ozon Credit microfinance loans to consumers, the Ozon.Invest lending platform for marketplace sellers, and the Ozon.Card cashback debit card – the first offer of its kind from a Russian retailer that also became available in digital format in December.
- Wildberries, Russia’s #1 e-commerce platform, has just purchased a bank to advance its payment services.
The boom in e-commerce during the pandemic has given a major boost to fintech development. Digital payment is a key component of online shopping, and online retailers that can offer a seamless payment experience are more likely to increase customer loyalty, which will bring in more revenue.
Russian tech giants go into fintechRead More
Topics:
Analysis, E-Commerce, Fintech
