Vladimir Komlev leaves the post of General Director of NSPK

The head of the National Payment Card System (NSCP) Vladimir Komlev is leaving his post after nine years of work. At the same time, the operator of the Mir payment system shows good results both in the development of the fast payment system (FPS) and in the use of payment cards. Market participants consider the personnel changes to be the result of a conflict between the head of the NSPK and the leadership of the Central Bank, but admit that at the same time the project required changes before the privatization of the system.

On December 18, NSPK announced that the company’s general director, Vladimir Komlev, was leaving his post on January 1, 2024. “Under his leadership, projects that were significant for the country’s payment infrastructure were implemented, including the transfer of card processing of international payment systems to the territory of Russia,” the statement says. NSPK release. In addition, the company notes that under the leadership of Vladimir Komlev, the Russian payment system “Mir” was created, the share of which today is more than 52% of the total volume of payments by bank cards, and also a system of fast payments was launched jointly with the Central Bank.

Market participants also note the significant role of Vladimir Komlev in the creation of the Russian payment infrastructure. An independent expert on the electronic payments market, Andrei Vylegzhanin, speaks of his high professionalism in the field of electronic payments.

According to the vice-president of the Association of Russian Banks, Alexei Voylukov, under Vladimir Komlev, an international payment system was created, which “made it possible not to stop payments for citizens within the country for a minute.”

In informal comments, market participants draw attention to the fact that the indicators of both the Mir payment system and SBP this year grew at an accelerated pace, so business could hardly be the reason for the dismissal of the top manager. As Vladimir Komlev himself said at a meeting with media representatives on December 18, the number of transactions in the SBP over the 11 months of 2023 increased by 2.4 times, to 6.3 billion units, compared to last year, and the volume of transactions increased by 2.2 times, up to 27.1 trillion rubles. The number of Mir cards increased over the ten months of this year by more than 1.5 times, to 261 million, and their share in the volume of payments at the end of nine months reached 52.5% compared to 35.9% a year earlier.

According to several Kommersant sources in the financial market, the real reason for the dismissal of the head of the NSPK could be a conflict with the leadership of the Central Bank. “Vladimir Komlev has become too independent and significant, this does not suit everyone and has long irritated some heads of the Central Bank,” says one of Kommersant’s interlocutors.

Another Kommersant source reported that the decision to dismiss was made about three weeks ago, but then the date from which Mr. Komlev would have to vacate the chair was not determined.

Another Kommersant interlocutor says that there were complaints against the head of the NSPK due to the fact that he was more involved in developing infrastructure than increasing profits. However, this seems more like a formal reason, since at the end of 2023, NSPK’s profit will exceed last year’s figure of 25.3 billion rubles. “We are grateful to Vladimir Komlev for his work,” said the Bank of Russia.

The personnel decision may also signal the beginning of a new stage in the development of NSPK. “It is quite possible that the state is thinking about privatizing NSPK or that banks are preparing to create an alternative in the payments market in order to increase competition and the quality of services provided to Russian banks,” Dmitry Vishnyakov, an independent expert on the payment card market, does not rule out.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutors in the financial market, NSPK today is such a strong mechanism that, by inertia, it can work for several years under any leadership, provided that key employees do not leave the company. At the same time, one of Kommersant’s sources reported that Alexei Malinovsky, who in recent years headed the Russian Mastercard and currently heads the board of directors of TCS Group, may be invited to replace Vladimir Komlev. Another Kommersant source says: “In our country, people who could lead the NSPK and not lead it into decline can be counted on one hand, and Alexey Malinovsky is one of the best specialists.”

Maxim Builov, Ksenia Dementieva