Both companies have declined to comment.
Sberbank has been expanding in the consumer credit market. In recent years, the bank has launched its own credit card business and joined forces with French bank BNP Paribas in a joint venture focusing on point-of-sale lending, a popular form of in-store consumer finance in Russia. Sberbank has the largest branch network in Russia, with over 19,100 retail outlets in 3,800 cities, about 28,000 ATMs and 17,000 payment terminals.
Sberbank has already been a partner of Yandex since February 2011, when the two companies have signed an agreement to enable Yandex.Money users to top up their accounts at Sberbank’s ATMs or payment terminals using a debit card from any Russian bank in order to pay bills or make purchases online.
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