MOSCOW, June 17 (RAPSI) - MasterCard said it is looking for a Russian company to process all payments made in Russia with the international system’s cards. Currently, all such payments are being processed outside Russia.

MasterCard has announced a tender for local interbank processing services, as it needs a supplier for clearing services, authorization and settlement services for all of its Russian operations.

The potential contractor has to be registered by the Central Bank as a payment system operator and will manage the payment system in compliance with Russian law. At the same time, the company will have to run its own processing center in Russia.

“Russia is an important market for MasterCard and we intend to deliver the best quality service to Russian cardholders, and continue developing electronic payment innovations,” MasterCard Russia head Ilya Ryaboi was quoted as saying. “We invite all those in the market to compete for the contract and we’ll further organize the system after selecting the best partner.”