American Express is going to open its own bank in Russia in the current year. The bank has already been registered and it is in the process of getting a license from the Central Bank of Russia. “The license hasn’t been given yet, as the authorized capital stock hasn’t been paid”, the Central Bank says.
Experts think that the reason that urged American Express to hasten was the conflict that broke out between the company and leading Russian banks.
Recently leading Russian banks sent the letter to the leaders of American Express company, claiming for the right to issue AmEx plastic cards in Russia. The banks showed discontent that only Russian standard bank has the exclusive right to issue AmEx currency and ruble payment cards in Russia, according to the agreement concluded in December 2005. If the leaders of the AmEx won’t listen to the arguments the banks adduced in the letter, the banks promise “to forward more actively Visa and MasterCard products in the market of elite cards”. Therefore, if American Express opens its own bank in Russia, the claims of the banks will get irrelevant and the conflict will be resolved. Now Experts are speculating on whether it will influence the agreement between American Express and Russian standard bank.
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