What is it?

On Day 2 of the SBC Digital Summit CIS a panel titled ‘Payments in CIS’ experts gathered to discuss a range of relevant topics including APMs, current trends and the cashless-COVID relationship. 

With many countries in the region developing their fintech capabilities, operators are constantly looking for the most flexible solution. The panel looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the way users engage with payments and embark on their payments journey.

An every important topic in the CIS region as following the pandemic the sector has embarked on its payment digitalisation. The conversation also briefly discusses cryptocurrencies. 

Who is it?

Speakers:

Alexandr Bondarenko, CEO, Wooppay

Arin Andriazian, Payments Product Manager, Digitain

Giorgi Tavtavadze, Payment Service Director, Liberty Bank

Olga Golikova, Head of Billing, Parimatch

Moderator:

Viktorija Ratomske, Former MD, Tonybet

What is being said?

Andriazian: “Maybe we can see this trend from a few years back when everything started to move online to be more digitalised and I can see events like COVID, that increased this potential as it came along people went more online and their behaviour changed and of course the payment industry was impacted by it.”

Bondarenko: “The use of alternative payments and the average amount of payments has decreased, this was especially the case for May and June. We have seen an increase since then.” 

Golikova: “In each country there are different commerce providers, it’s still different payment methods. To proceed in each country you need to acquire a bank, approval ratio for each of them will be much higher than Euro bank.”

Why should I watch it?

A must watch to understand how restrictions from Visa and Mastercard within the region is leading to a surge of alternative payments and fintechs that are growing into the space and are enjoying heightened engagement in the region.

The panel gives a bit of the history of payments in the CIS region and builds on why there may be distruct or reluctance to move to digitalised payment methods. It shows how customers may need a more guided approach to accepting these new payments methods. 

Where can I see more?

Source: SBC YouTube Channel