International technology companies Xiaomi and MasterCard have announced a strategic partnership in Russia.
The agreement was concluded at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019 and the companies plan to develop the distribution of payment innovations and the launch of the digital payment service Mi Pay in Russia. The document was signed by Liu Li, head of the technology division Xiaomi Financial, and Alexey Malinovsky, head of Mastercard in Russia.
The launch of the digital payment service Mi Pay in Russia will give Russian users of Xiaomi mobile devices and MasterCard card holders the opportunity to make purchases with convenience, as well as receive various bonuses and privileges. Mi Pay will be compatible with new smartphone models and Xiaomi wearable devices that support NFC.
"Since Xiaomi officially appeared in Russia in 2016, we have been striving to give our Mi fans a great experience of using our products, – said Liu Li, head of the technology division Xiaomi Financial. – Today, we are taking our connection with users to a new level thanks to our partnership with Mastercard, launching a convenient and secure payment system Mi Pay."
"Mastercard has been doing business in Russia for more than 20 years and we are constantly working to provide Russians with the advanced solutions of the global payment industry. We are glad that MasterCard card holders in our country will be able to use this new Mi Pay service and that users of Xiaomi smartphones can have a new opportunity to pay for purchases safely, – says Alexey Malinovsky, head of Mastercard in Russia. – Russians are very susceptible to innovation and our research shows that almost 70% of respondents already consider a smartphone to be the most convenient tool for contactless payment."
Transactions made through Mi Pay are protected by the most advanced MasterCard developments in the field of security including tokenization technology. MasterCard tokenization platform allows to integrate a high level of protection into mobile payment services. When you connect your Mastercard card to the Mi Pay service, a unique token is created – a 16-digit combination of numbers tied to the application on a specific device.
In Russia, MasterCard was the first to introduce contactless payment technology (in 2008), and the ability to pay with a smartphone in one touch (in 2012). In 2016, the first tokenization service started to work with Mastercard in Russia, and as a result, Mastercard card holders were the first to use Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and then Google Pay.
Xiaomi officially entered the Russian market in October 2018. In total, there are 29 official Mi Store stores in Russia, operating in 20 cities of the country. According to the statistics, in 2018 Xiaomi took the 4th place in the Russian market in terms of smartphone sales.
