The Russian online retailer Ozon, whose first attempt to create a financial business unexpectedly came across sanctions against the previous owner of the bank, decided to make the second attempt from scratch.

Interfax reports that on March 11 the Bank of Russia (the Central Bank) registered a new credit organization - Ecom bank with a registered capital of 3,6 billion rubles.

The bank received a universal license from the Central Bank to carry out banking operations in rubles and foreign currency (with the right to attract funds from individuals into deposits). The Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) announced on the eve that it included Ecom bank in the Registry of Banks - participants of the compulsory deposit insurance system.

In late February the US authorities included the subsidiary bank Ozon in the SDN List, linking it to the former shareholder, Sovcombank, which also fell under the sanctions of the US Treasury Department. Ozon said it would ask the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, a division of the US Treasury Department) to remove the subsidiary from the SDN List.

“The banking license of Ozon bank, which we acquired in 2021, is basic, therefore it has a number of limitations in terms of launching complex financial products. Based on it, we began to develop payment instruments, which turned out to be very popular. We see a huge demand for our financial products from both consumers and entrepreneurs who cooperate with our platform. We planned to obtain a universal license and received it the other day - this will allow us to launch a wider range of services for B2C and B2B clients,” Ozon said in a statement.

The company reminded that on February 25it filed an appeal with OFAC. “We are awaiting the decision of the US regulator to remove Ozon bank from the list of sanctions, where it appeared due to the fact that it considers the bank affiliated with Sovcombank,” Ozon said.



Ozon purchased a bank from Sovcombank in spring 2021 for 615 million rubles. Last summer Ozon’s Vice President for Digital Finance Vahe Ovasapyan commented on the purchase of the bank and the prospects for the development of the company’s fintech direction.

“We believe in the union of fintech and e-commerce, our sellers and buyers really need convenient financial products in order to buy online or sell online,” said Vahe Ovasapyan,

According to him, Ozon has a lot of customers, buyers and sellers. The strategic goal of the fintech business for these clients is to serve as many of the financial needs associated with Ozon’s business as possible. “We understand what products customers need, so now we are building infrastructure for them, the bank is a part of it.”

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