OREANDA-NEWS. On October 03, 2008 Russian Standard Bank, the exclusive merchant acquirer and issuer of American Express® Cards in Russia, and MIR, a leading Russian retailer, announced a new merchant acquiring agreement that enables credit card terminals in 72 MIR retail outlets and superstores to process American Express Card transactions, reported the press-centre of Russian Standard Bank.

The agreement was launched with a special offer for American Express Cardmembers, who will receive a 10% discount on purchases over 20,000 rubles through Oct. 31, 2008.

The agreement between Russian Standard Bank, Russia’s leading consumer lending institution, and MIR follows a number of the Bank’s acquiring agreements with major retailers and hotels in Russia, including: MTS, Megafon, Wild Orchid (Dikaya Orkhideya), Zara, Intersport, WorldClass Gyms, Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya, Radisson SAS Lazurnaya (Sochi), Park Inn Sadu, Holiday Inn (Samara) and Kosmos.

“Russian Standard Bank continues to demonstrate its commitment to expanding American Express business in Russia and to improving the customer experience for American Express Cardholders and Russian merchants,” said Kamal Boushi, director of Russian Standard Bank’s acquiring department.

Russian Standard Bank’s own merchant network covers more than 90,000 locations in Russia. Since January 2008, the Bank has increased its network by more than 21,000 locations, with plans to extend the network further throughout Russia’s regions.

The Russian Standard Bank merchant network provides merchants with a secure platform for sales transactions and convenience and security for cardholders using the most popular payment systems in the world - American Express, MasterCard Worldwide, Visa International, JCB and Diners Club.