Goznak Moves into Digital Payments

Russian banknote printer and papermaker Goznak is the latest in a series of currency suppliers to move into digital payments, having signed an agreement to acquire a stake of 50% plus one share in fintech company Preprocessing Settlement Center JSC (JSC PRT), which operates under the Uniteller trademark.

PRT provides services for processing non-cash payments to more than 3,000 commercial and government organisations in a variety of different business areas, including state and commercial acquiring banks, and operates not just in Russia, but also in other CIS countries.

The two companies already have experience in joint project implementation, having operated as strategic partners since 2017 in the non-cash payment processing market. They now intend to jointly develop products in the field of digital payment services and solutions.

According to Arkady Trachuk, General Director of Goznak, ‘Uniteller is a large, proven player in the acquiring and payment solutions market. I am sure that the decision to acquire a stake in this company by Goznak is strategically correct for both parties. Thanks to this deal, we combine the reliability and technological potential of Goznak with modern Uniteller solutions. As a result, this merger will allow us both to enter new markets for Goznak and qualitatively update the proposals for existing customers’.

A number of other state-owned currency suppliers are also developing competencies in digital payments on behalf of their governments, whilst commercial suppliers crossing the digital divide include SICPA and Giesecke+Devrient.

Alexey Bogatkin, General Director of JSC PRC (left) and Arkady Trachuk of Goznak (right) shake hands on the agreement.