Ozon Bank will begin installing the first ATMs in 2025

How many ATMs will Ozon Bank have?

Currently, the bank’s clients can use the devices of VTB partners; Cooperation with the credit institution will continue.

Ozon was considering the option of purchasing about 500 ATMs to ship to Moscow. This information appeared in the company’s materials at the end of November. In particular, in the second quarter we talked about buying 10 devices, in the third quarter already 200 and in the fourth quarter 290 more. But the company did not confirm these data.

The bank considered acquiring ATMs with and without a card module. All purchased ATMs must be on the list of equipment that “has been tested for its ability to adapt to cash processing, without the participation of foreign individuals and legal entities, as well as without transferring data outside the Russian Federation, which is displayed on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation”, follows from the company’s materials.

• In addition to Ozon, Yandex and Wildberries have their own banks, but they do not have their own ATMs. Experts believe that having your own ATM network can increase brand awareness, but maintaining it is expensive and problematic.

How much will network development cost?

The initial investment in such banking equipment in the amount of 500 units will amount to at least 900 million rubles, taking into account the costs associated with the purchase, RB.RU explained. economist, former vice president of Otkritie Bank Konstantin Tserazov.

Amarkets Lead Analyst Igor Rastorguev estimated the average cost of each ATM that Ozon wants to buy between 0.5 and 3 million rubles.

For the installation of at least 1,000 ATMs costing 500,000 rubles, according to the most minimal estimates, 500 million rubles will be needed, the expert believes. In this amount, Rastorguev did not include the cost of software and regular maintenance by specialists, which, according to him, are in short supply in Russia today.

Why does the market need ATMs?

According to Rastorguev, the main and main advantage of ATMs is increased recognition, loyalty, growth of the customer base and trust in the bank. But for the bank itself this represents “an enormous cost.”

“An ATM is a very complex device, for which legislation imposes increased requirements: the installed ATM must be on the list of software and hardware tools of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. ATMs require regular maintenance, collection (withdrawing and loading money), repairs, conflict resolution and software updating (for example, the machine must quickly start recognizing new types of banknotes),” says Rastorguev.

Tserazov also clarified that it is important to observe global trends, which indicate a reduction in the number of ATMs in many banks.

“But not for everyone, since we are talking about different strategies for the development of financial services and companies that, consequently, put different emphasis on online communication with clients,” added the expert.

According to Tserazov, the activity of financial sector markets like Ozon is a matter of strategy, but great attention should be paid to GR communication. The bank needs to understand how such activity will fit with other services.

According to the expert, anticipating such an evolution of the situation, it is best for the markets to test the operation only with their own network of ATMs.

According Finam financial group analyst Leonid DelitsynEven textbook authors from the 90s wrote that ATMs bring nothing but losses to banks.

“But they are convenient for customers and have appeared in large banks. Little by little, all banks had to acquire ATMs. Therefore, history repeats itself: as the bank grows, it needs all the attributes of a “real” bank, the expert said.

Delitsyn added that Ozon has a large turnover of 2 billion rubles, there are cards with discounts and a significant proportion of buyers will pay with them, in addition, ATMs will also serve as a promotional tool.

Plans for other markets

Representatives of other markets are reluctant to comment on plans to develop an ATM network.

Wildberries did not respond to RB.RU’s question about plans to start developing an ATM network, but added that they are “ready to develop in the fintech direction.”

“As part of the fintech direction, we are considering the possibility of launching various financial services for buyers and sellers of the platform. When choosing services we start, first of all, from their relevance to our audience. In 2025, we will launch several new fintech solutions and will be ready to share details later,” the company said.

Yandex declined to comment.

• Ozon Bank is positioned as the first e-commerce bank in Russia (founded in 2022), offering financial services for clients and sellers of the Ozon trading platform.
• In July 2024, analysts at the Expert RA rating agency reported on the bank’s plans to begin actively expanding its credit operations. According to the financial plan studied by Expert RA, the bank wants to create an infrastructure in 2024 to start actively lending and then “plans to significantly increase the volume of loans.”
• In April 2024, the Bank of Russia discussed whether additional regulation of markets-owned banks was necessary. The question of the competitive advantages of these credit institutions was raised by top managers of other banks, Interfax wrote, without naming the initiators. “Additional regulation is needed, we are currently studying this issue,” responded the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina.