OREANDA-NEWS. On April 10, 2007 Russian Standard Bank (RSB) and American Express announced that they have signed a long term agreement for RSB to become the legal acquirer of American Express merchants in Russia, reported the press-centre of RSB.
Under the agreement to transfer the American Express merchant business in Russia, RSB will be responsible for signing new merchants in Russia to accept the American Express Card, managing relationships with existing American Express merchants in the market and processing transactions on the American Express network in Russia. The full transfer of the business will be completed by 1st June 2007. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
American Express has transferred its merchant acquiring business to a single bank in more than 90 markets in which American Express Global Network Services operates, including Brazil, China, and South Africa. In 2005, RSB began to exclusively issue and market American Express Centurion line cards in Russia.
“This new agreement is a natural extension of the card issuing agreement we signed with American Express more than two years ago,” said Dmitry Levin Russian Standard Bank’s CEO. “We have started a two-way dialogue with our customers, and they told us they wanted more places where they can use their American Express Cards in Russia and that is what we will be doing to fulfil their needs and desires. As part of our continuous commitment to customer satisfaction, we will ensure that American Express Cardmembers from Russia and all over the world will have the opportunity to use their American Express Cards in the locations they choose.”
“This agreement demonstrates American Express’ commitment to and confidence in the Russian market. RSB is already doing an outstanding job of creating valuable American Express products and services designed to meet the needs of Russian consumers,” said Zoran Novakovic, Vice President and Country Manager, American Express Russia & CIS. “I am confident that this agreement will allow American Express to enhance the value it provides to merchants by expanding card acceptance to places where our high-spending Cardmembers want to use their cards and will ultimately contribute to the growth and development of the payments industry in Russia.”