Ingenico opens up Russia tointernational merchants

AMSTERDAM,NETHERLANDS - Media OutReach - 12 December2018 - Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamlesspayment, is transforming how international online merchants can do business inRussia, by offering domestic processing and cross-border settlement forinternational payments for the first time.

Russia isone of the world's largest and most dynamic ecommerce markets. It is estimatedthat ecommerce sales exceeded €28bn last year and with two-thirds of onlineRussian consumers shopping cross-border, ecommerce revenues are growing by 17%a year.

However, ithas been a challenging market for international merchants, without a Russianlegal entity, payments are typically processed as cross-border transactions byacquiring banks outside of Russia, which significantly impacts authorisationrates. Even international merchants that have a Russian legal entity face seriousissues around VAT and repatriation of funds remitted locally.

Bypartnering with Russia's leading acquiring banks -- including the biggestacquirer in Europe, Sberbank -- Ingenicois able to process payments for themajority of Russian issued cards 'On-Us'. This allows for better approvalrates, improves performance and provides better insight on results. The uniquesolution alsoenables merchants to convert rubles and remit in the currency of their choice,without the risk that comes with converting a fluctuating currencyinternationally.

"International merchants can now reach Russianconsumers that were previously inaccessible unless they completed complicatedand costly authorisation and legal processes," explains Gabriel de Montessus, SVP GlobalOnline (Retail BU) for Ingenico Group. "Ourmerchants will enjoy higher approval rates and lower fraud risk thanks to transparentand direct processing with the top Russian acquiring banks."

Significantly,Ingenico is the first international payment service provider (PSP) to processMIR cards. Supporting Russia's domestic card scheme is vital given that morethan 49 million MIR cards have been issued since its introduction in 2015.

Now, merchantsworking with Ingenico do not have to establish a local entity to accept Visa,Mastercard or MIR cards, while being assured that personal data is being storedin compliance with local regulations.

DeMontessus adds: "Every merchant sellinggoods in Russia must be compliant with localdata regulations, which mandate that all personal data is stored in local datacentres. We're carefully monitoring the fast-changing environment to ensurepayment practices run smoothly and securely, keeping merchants compliant whilethey grow their sales."

About Ingenico Group

Ingenico Group (Euronext: FR0000125346 - ING) is the global leader inseamless payment, providing smart, trusted and secure solutions to empowercommerce across all channels, in-store, online and mobile. With the world'slargest payment acceptance network, we deliver secure payment solutions with alocal, national and international scope. We are the trusted world-class partnerfor financial institutions and retailers, from small merchants to several ofthe world's best known global brands. Our solutions enable merchants tosimplify payment and deliver their brand promise.

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