Russia’s Sberbank Develops Instant B2B Payments Service

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, is collaborating on a faster B2B payments solution with the financial services unit of Russian search engine Yandex.

In collaboration with Yandex.Money, Sberbank and Yandex’s electronic payments joint venture, Sberbank has reportedly launched a B2B payments system that facilitates transactions within minutes, rather than the one to three days it usually takes, according to Telecompaper reports on Wednesday (Oct. 17).

Corporate clients of Sberbank using the Yandex.Checkout solution will have access to the instant payment service, reports said. Businesses can also integrate a digital button on their own website to facilitate payment acceptance using the Sberbank Business Online platform.

The B2B payments platform is designed to accelerate payments between legal entities. According to reports, there are an estimated 2 million companies with a settlement account at Sberbank.

Sberbank has been working with Yandex for several years to develop a range of solutions. Last year, Sberbank agreed to invest more than $500 million in the Yandex.Market eCommerce solution to develop a payment solution and introduce new features on the platform.

Other B2B payment initiatives in Russia have come from Visa, which announced earlier this year that it would be expanding its corporate payment services in the country. At the time, Sberbank signed on to participate in Visa’s B2B Connect, a solution that utilizes blockchain to facilitate B2B transactions.

Other banks participating in the initiative include United Overseas Bank in Singapore and Commerce Bank in the U.S.

Russian companies are also collaborating with the nation’s central bank to develop another blockchain-powered payments messaging solution as the country prepares to stop using SWIFT‘s interbank communication platform. The Russian Association of Corporate Treasurers joined the government’s Masterchain initiative in June, a collaboration between 14 of the nation’s largest banks and Russia’s FinTech Association.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 first sparked concerns over European sanctions against the country, including SWIFT’s possible removal of Russia from its platform.