Chinese payments company Helipay is in talks with Russian banks to launch a cross-border payment service between Russia and China. Helipay representative in the Russian Federation Rustem Zakirzyanov told RBC about this.
“Helipay needs a bank in Russia to provide customers in China with the ability to pay for goods. Chinese customers need to be able to pay money to Russia, or we have to pay China very quickly,” Zakirzyanov said.
According to Zakirzyanov, Helipay is negotiating with three Russian banks, one of which is systemically important. However, in order to launch the service in Russia, changes in the legislation are required, since currently banks can only conclude correspondent agreements with banks. It is unclear whether the regulator will be ready to make such changes.
The problem of organizing cross-border settlements is a problem that Russia has been facing since the spring of 2022 due to the sanctions that Russian banks face with the disconnection of SWIFT and the closure of correspondent accounts. Some credit unions have restricted international transfers or created alternative channels.
According to the expert, the launch of Helipay in Russia can significantly facilitate payments between Russian and Chinese companies. Currently, such payments for cars, for example, can take months due to difficulties in handling international transactions. Thus, Russian businesses will have access to another service for agreements with China.
Central Bank of Russia at the end of August registered Third system for transferring money abroad within a year
Russians before there is the ability to pay using QR codes abroad.