OREANDA-NEWS. From October 1, the international payment system Visa will reduce to 1% the size of the interbank commission for large Russian online stores, provided that the buyer will pay for the goods with a card upon delivery by courier. A letter with the appropriate changes was sent to the banks, four media sources told the Russian media in the payment market. The receipt was confirmed at VTB, Alfa Bank, and two more banks.

Visa establishes a reduced interbank commission (interchange, the main part of the total commission, paid to the bank that issued the card) in order to help “convert cash payments on delivery to non-cash payments”, the letter says. The 1% rate will apply to all categories of goods of large online stores delivered via courier services, including air or land transport.

Now the average size of the interchange for online stores is 1.99%, said one of the interlocutors of the media. According to Artem Sokolov, the head of the Association of Internet Trading Companies, today the Interchange does not depend on the method of delivery of goods and, depending on the type of card used, varies from 1.5 to 2.1% for non-food items.

The press service of Visa, in response to a request from the media, said that the company “periodically reviews the interbank commission rates in order to ensure the necessary conditions in the market for the development of electronic payments and the network for accepting them”.

A new commission for courier delivery of goods from online stores is being introduced simultaneously with preferential tariffs developed on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who intervened in the conflict between banks and retail, dissatisfied with the high cost of card payment. It's a question of commissions starting from October 1 for social purchases in educational and medical institutions, pharmacy goods, as well as for purchasing car and real estate cards. At the same time, the initiative to reduce the cost of card payments for couriers comes from Visa itself.