Helipay, a Chinese payment business, is in talks with Russian banks to establish cross-border transactions, according to the company’s development director, who spoke at the International Banking Forum in Sochi on Friday.
According to Rustem Zakirzyanov, the service is looking for a bank that will allow Russian customers to make quick payments for Chinese items. This is now troublesome, he continued, citing payments from Russian consumers for Chinese autos, which can take months to process.
“When Helipay receives such an opportunity, it will rapidly attract a huge number of small and medium-sized businesses, and other Chinese enterprises to cooperate with Russia,” RBK reported that Zakirzyanov had said.
He went on to say that Helipay is now in talks with three Russian credit institutions, one of which is regarded systemically important. Zakirzyanov declined.
For Helipay to start operating in Russia, legislative amendments will be needed to allow a payment service company to enter into a correspondent agreement with a credit institution.
This is in violation of [Russian] regulation, which now allows only interbank correspondent ties,” Zakirzyanov pointed out, adding that any such transactions require authorisation from the Russian central bank.
According to the company’s official website, Helipay was founded in 2013 and holds a payment business licence issued by the People’s Bank of China. The service specialises on transfers and payments for small and medium-sized businesses, including cross-border payments.
