OREANDA-NEWS. June 07, 2012. For the first time in Russia, thanks to joint efforts of CyberPlat® payment system, Visa international payment system and Svyaznoy federal retail chain, Russian consumers can replenish Visa bank cards right on the spot — at points of sale.

CyberPlat®, Visa and Svyaznoy extend capabilities of the service Visa Personal Payments for Russian consumers. The new solution offers a convenient way to replenish your Visa card in cash or transfer funds to Visa cards of your relatives or friends. Now you can do that at any of nearly 3,000 stores of Svyaznoy federal chain, which are located throughout 817 Russian cities.

Now, thanks to this service, you do not need to visit your local bank branch. Just go to any of Svyaznoy stores, tell the cashier the card number and deposit the required amount. Crediting the Visa card with funds takes from several minutes to 2 business days, depending on the card issuing bank.

"To date in Russia there has been issued more than 80 million Visa cards. In situation when every second citizen owns a bank card we tend to focus on expanding the functionality of card products, including offering new capabilities for replenishing cards. Using points of sale as a new way to replenish Visa bank cards is another step towards consumers, which confirms our commitment to make card payments easier and more convenient," — said Steven Parker, Visa General Manager in Russia, the CIS and South-Eastern Europe. "Noting the large demand for such services in the Russian market we hope that this service will stimulate new projects to be introduced in the retail sector."

"Our customers access to a wide range of additional services, which number and popularity is constantly growing. Thus, in 2011 the turnover of financial payments had increased by 290% compared to 2010. A new project with Visa and CyberPlat will enable our customers — Visa cardholders — to replenish their cards in the most convenient and fast way, at any of nearly 3,000 stores of Svyaznoy, which are located within walking distance from home or place of work. I am sure that our customers will appreciate the features and advantages of the new service," — said Michael Touch, the executive vice-president of Svyaznoy Group of Companies.