The Association of Banks of Russia wrote a letter to the Ministry of Industry and Trade stating that subsidies are needed to replace POS terminals. According to TASS, banks note that the replacement of Ingenico devices will cost the industry at least 40 billion rubles. And this is 20% of the total profit of the sector over the past year.
The French Ingenico completely ceased and sold its business in Russia in mid-2022. Accordingly, technical support is currently not available. Banks speak directly: we need an import substitution program.
How important a company from France was for the Russian market, says Alexander Linnikov, Chairman of the Board of the National Payments Council:
“Ingenico is indeed one of the leaders in the domestic market of acquiring equipment, which occupies a dominant position, therefore, the termination of the supply of this equipment, the termination of its service may result in certain difficulties for the Russian payment sector. Nevertheless, it is no secret that parallel import routes are being developed, as well as ways to replace equipment with comparable analogues from other manufacturers.”
All devices of one particular company cannot fail at one moment, Linnikov emphasizes. But gradually the situation may worsen. According to the Association of Banks of Russia, Ingenico accounts for about half of all operating terminals – approximately 2 million units.
The Vedomosti newspaper, referring to the vice-president of the association Alexei Voylukov, writes: banks, hardware and software manufacturers, as well as other participants in the payment industry, need subsidies directly. Bankers deliberately blur the boundaries so as not to “restrict the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the possibilities of choice and proposals.”
In the POS terminal market, there is a replacement for the French from both Russia and China. Parallel import works. Will the banks be able to get the requested amount? The chief editor of the portal Finnews.ru, financial analyst Vladimir Shevchenko doubts this:
“If it were before February 24, 2022, I would say that banks have a fairly high chance of receiving this amount. Now I strongly doubt it. In the past few months, the deficit in the budget is too big to allocate money to the so-called fat cats – as bankers are often called. It is unlikely that they will be able to get this money. We’ll have to figure it out on our own.”
According to Vedomosti, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is considering the issue of subsidies. The ministry also believes that manufacturers of payment terminals can take advantage of the program that the government is implementing to support the production of radio electronics.
And what if there really is a shortage of terminals in Russia? Experts do not yet predict this. But how else can you pay now in the store if there is no terminal? For example, by QR code. This method has been under development for several years. But it has always been significantly inferior in popularity: first, paying with a smartphone via NFC, and now using a card. What are the retailers saying? The CEO of Finn Flare, Ksenia Ryasova, claims that they have no problems with terminals:
“Banks solve their problems very quickly. Probably, the earth is burning under their feet – everything is difficult for them, problems. But it certainly doesn’t affect us. Everything works for us. It is more difficult with QR codes, because when people pay with a QR code, they lose cashback. They don’t like it. You have to persuade people: a quick return, if you don’t like something, or something else. ”
After the departure of Apple Pay and Google Pay in Russia, they are actively talking about paying by QR code. According to various estimates, the share of code use this year can reach 10%. For businesses, such payment is cheaper than acquiring: commission from 0.4% to 0.7%. More and more outlets provide this opportunity. But the problem with codes is pretty banal, retailers say: cards benefit from cashback, convenience, and force of habit. The client simply does not want to switch to other methods.