PRESS: Payment operator Qiwi makes foray into cash register market

MOSCOW, Apr 17 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Qiwi, a publicly-traded payment service provider, has agreed to produce online cash registers jointly with Shtrikh-M, one of the biggest local manufacturers of cash register equipment, business daily Kommersant reported on Monday.

Qiwi agreed with Shtrikh-M to set up two joint ventures on a parity basis to design, distribute and service cash registers and software for offline and online small and medium-sized businesses. The volume of investments was not disclosed.

The first joint venture, Qiwi Shtrikh, will focus on low-cost small smart cash registers for offline retailers. The Android-run equipment will be linked to a cloud service, to which a businessman will be able to add Qiwi software products.

“The number of register manufacturers is rising, but we think we’ll be able to compete thanks to a wide range of solutions as, in essence, we offer businessmen a kit that adjusts to their needs,” Qiwi Shtrikh’s Commercial Director Alexander Baidakov said.

The second startup will appear by May and will design and distribute online cash registers for Internet stores. “A server will be the main product, which will contain a fiscal data recorder and a fiscal accumulator for firms. An e-store hands over data to an operator of fiscal data via a protocol. The server’s advantage is that it’s cheaper than an ordinary cash register,” a Qiwi spokesperson said.

Under the law, most of retailers, both offline and online ones, must use special cash registers from July 1 to send data to the Federal Tax Service every time they get money from buyers for goods and services.

End