Moscow, 28 December 2022 – X5 Group (“X5” or the “Company”, LSE and MOEX ticker: FIVE), a leading Russian food retailer, will soon begin using the Faster Payments System (FPS) at all Perekrestok supermarkets. In the near future, the service will be available at every Perekrestok checkout, including self-service terminals. Currently, 70% of the chain’s supermarkets provide an FPS-based payment option.
“Perekrestok keeps improving. One of our key ambitions is to offer our customers convenient, high-quality digital services. We intend to implement all advanced technologies to cater to the needs of our audience,” said Andrey Kalmykov, General Director of Perekrestok.
“FPS-based payments are a convenient, modern way of shopping. We see that this payment method is popular among visitors to our retail chains. For the Company, the FPS roll-out means a further reduction in transaction costs on purchases,” commented Vsevolod Starukhin, CFO at X5.
X5 is running the FPS project in collaboration with Alfa-Bank and the National Payment Card System. The Company’s supplier of NFC chips for contactless payments is Mikron, Russia’s largest microelectronics manufacturer. FPS payments at Perekrestok checkouts use a static QR code with a checkout link. X5 was among the first Russian retailers to introduce this technology. What makes it unique is the combination of a static QR code and a dynamic mechanism for generating the ticket amount. This payment method has a number of advantages. For instance, it enables contactless URL scanning via NFC.
Thus, when paying via the FPS, the customer can choose between scanning the QR code with their phone camera or accessing the transaction URL by holding their phone close to the NFC chip integrated into the QR code. The customer then confirms the transaction on their phone without entering the amount. The payment is transferred from the customer’s account to the merchant in a few seconds upon confirmation in the app. X5 Group carried out its first FPS payment using a dynamic QR code in late 2019, making it the first food retailer to use the novel technology. In 2022, the Company began rolling out the FPS payment option at traditional and self-service checkouts in Pyaterochka stores. X5 plans to complete the FPS roll-out across its chains in 2023.