Expert: Russian cell operators can handle pension transfers to funds

MOSCOW, Jan 24 (PRIME) -- Transfers of Russians’ pension savings through mobile operators have good prospects, Konstantin Ugryumov, president of the National Association of Non-State Pension Funds (NAPF), said on Tuesday.

“The process of people’s joining non-state pension funds should be the easiest and the most comfortable. From this point of view, realization of this service via cellular operators is promising. It’s necessary to expand sales channels further, to stimulate, among others, interest of citizens to voluntary pension savings,” Ugryumov said.

One of the country’s top mobile operators, MTS, announced a tender among funds for a service to transfer pension savings and will pick a winner by the end of March.

The service is available in some stores of mobile operator T2 RTK Holding, known as Tele2. “A decision to offer the service is made by the dealer, which directly settles the matter with a non-state pension fund. We’re assessing demand for the service among subscribers,” a spokesperson for T2 RTK Holding said.

Mobile operator VimpelCom, working as Beeline, is studying the service, while its peer, MegaFon, sees no demand among its clients.

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