The Bank of Russia approved the allocation of a non-bank credit organization (NPO) license to Yandex.Money. This as reported by RIA Novosti . was stated by the head of the search engine, Arkady Volozh,

The general director of Yandex clarified that at the end of July the payment system received a letter informing about the decision to issue a license. According to Volozh, the process of obtaining permission to work as an NGO should be completed by the end of September.

The Central Bank also agreed to issue an NPO license to the Dengi@Mail.Ru payment system. This was reported in a press release from Mail.Ru Group , received by the editors of Lenta.ru. “After registering the NPO, it will be necessary to pay the authorized capital in the amount of 18 million rubles, open correspondent accounts with the Central Bank and begin operating as a non-bank credit organization,” said Andrey Efimochkin, director of e-commerce at Dengi@Mail.Ru.

Payment systems decided to become non-bank credit organizations in connection with the law “On the National Payment System”, which obliges all Russian electronic money systems to operate either as NPOs or as banks from September 29, 2012.

The head of Yandex.Money, Evgenia Zavalishina , explained that the bank’s license is “heavy” for the electronic money system. Since the Yandex payment system does not intend to engage in lending, the choice was made in favor of NPOs.

Previously, Volozh said that in addition to the option with an NPO, options were also considered for purchasing a stake in the bank and attracting a strategic investor. Zavalishina later clarified that the decision to become an NPO did not cancel plans to find an investor, but this process has nothing to do with obtaining a license from the Central Bank.

The status of an NPO will not allow Yandex.Money to issue its own plastic cards. In mid-April this year, the system began issuing MasterCard cards issued to users by Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank. Cards will continue to be issued after Yandex.Money becomes an NPO.

The Central Bank allowed the Yandex payment system to become an NPO