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Russia’s Sochi to get upgrade noncash payments system after 2014 Olympics

Over 3,600 POS terminals are available in shopping centres, eating houses and hotels

SOCHI, July 17 (Itar-Tass) - Russian resort cities in the Krasnodar Territory will get an upgrade system of noncash payments after the 23rd Winter Olympic Games to be held in the Black Sea city of Sochi in 2014.

Senior Business Leader at Visa Inc. Tatiana Sanders told reporters on Wednesday that the Visa Company, a long-standing sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1986, had launched a program on payments infrastructure development in the region in the run-up to the Olympics.

The 40-million-rouble program envisages training of personnel at shopping and service facilities, at banks and at marketing and advertizing agencies as well as programs on financial literacy stimulating campaigns for bank cards holders.

“Visa has allocated money for the Krasnodar territory’s acquirer banks to purchase 4,000 POS terminals at a special price and to equip as many trade and service facilities as possible with non-cash payments systems,” the company said. “The company will also invest in setting up upgrade 3G wireless POS terminal infrastructure and in developing the technology of contactless payments Visa payWave in the region.”

At least 760 ATMs have been installed in Sochi to date and 94 percent of them are multilingual, chief of the city government’s department for the economy and forecasting Leila Gandaloyeva said.

Over 3,600 POS terminals are available in shopping centres, eating houses and hotels at present while the target is to double their number to 7,600 by the beginning of the 2014 Olympics.

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