ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Russian high-tech company Alkor Group has signed a deal with retail chain 7-Eleven that will put PayCash, its online cash-payment system, in the retailer's Vcom program.
PayCash will allow consumers ordering e-commerce products at Vcom kiosks to pay for them with cash, an option heretofore unavailable to online shoppers. (See related story Finally, more functionality)
According to a report in the Moscow Times, 7-Eleven partner Cyphermint holds the exclusive rights to the PayCash system's worldwide distribution. Alkor is a joint venture between military technology developer Aerokosmicheskoye Oborudovaniye and St. Petersburg-based Tavrichesky Bank.
Aerokosmicheskoye Oborudovaniye, the main shareholder, has invested $20 million in the PayCash project. Sergei Bodrunov, general director of Aerokosmicheskoye Oborudovaniye, said another $30 million will be invested, according to the Times report.
Russian analysts, however, were skeptical of PayCash's prospects in North America.
"The system's only plus is that it allows for anonymous cash payments," said Alexei Prigozhin, president of high-tech company A. Partners. "I doubt that a significant number of Americans, accustomed to credit cards, will be attracted by that factor."
Stanislav Tsirlin, an analyst with Boston Consulting Group, didn't believe that Internet purchases using kiosks would be popular in the U.S. "The system could take off in Russia where the Internet and credit cards are found only in large cities," he said.
