PRESS: AliExpress to start accepting Russian pay cards Mir by Dec

MOSCOW, Apr 27 (PRIME) -- Russians will be able to start paying in September–November for purchases on Chinese online floor AliExpress with cards Mir, issued by the National Payment Card System (NPCS) and domestic banks, business daily Vedomosti reported Wednesday, citing an AliExpress spokesperson.

The NPCS and AliExpress signed a protocol on cooperation, the spokesperson said. The companies will prepare a technical base and work out a joint marketing strategy.

“We expect that by the moment of implementation of the project Mir holders will have access not only to promotion offers, but also special conditions of the payment system’s loyalty program,” a NPCS spokesperson told the daily.

Partnership with the national payment system, created as an analogue to the U.S.’ Visa and MasterCard, has been earlier voiced by several big domestic companies, such as mobile operators MegaFon and Tele2, as well as national carriers Russian Railways and Aeroflot.

AliExpress dominates on the Russian e-commerce market by the number of orders and traffic. The Chinese company is popular in small towns and among people with moderate incomes, as prices of the bulk of goods on this floor is at hundreds and tens of rubles, research company Data Insight’s partner Boris Ovchinnikov said.

The spokesperson for AliExpress said that the share of card payments is very high because of a requirement of a full advance payment.

“A huge part of orders are paid not with banking cards, but via phones, electronic wallets, cash payments via automated teller machines,” Ovchinnikov said.

End