Maria Korolov » Archive
Russian Payment Kiosk Firm To Target U.S., Brazil
Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co. Ltd. has acquired 14.9% stake in Qiwi Ltd., a Russian company registered in Cyprus that specializes in instant-payment kiosks, the two companies announced Jan. 18. Read full article at PaymentsSource (paid subscription required). … Read more »
Russian McDonald’s Restaurants Complete Card-Terminal Deployments
The 258 McDonald’s restaurants in Russia now accept bankcards, the fast-food provider’s acquirer Russian Standard Bank announced Dec. 13. Read full article at PaymentsSource (paid subscription required). … Read more »
MasterCard, Russian Standard Bank Strike MoneySend Deal
Russian Standard Bank has become the first European bank to offer person-to-person funds transfers through MasterCard Worldwide’s MoneySend platform, the companies announced Dec. 6. Read full article at PaymentsSource (paid subscription required). … Read more »
Outsourcing: Russia and Eastern Europe
Compared with some of the big-league outsourcing players, Russia is a rookie. The country’s current revenue from IT outsourcing is $150 million to $200 million annually, a drop in the bucket compared with India’s yearly draw of $6 billion. But, though little more than a decade old, Russia’s outsourcing industry is learning to play to its strengths and is growing by 50% annually, analysts say. Those strengths include low-cost and highly trained workers. The annual salary for a programmer runs about $5,000 to $9,000, which is comparable to salaries in India. The World Bank estimates that Russia has the third-highest number of scientists and engineers per capita in the world. Read full article at Computerworld. … Read more »