Paymentwall

Financial Services
USA

Companies such as China’s Union Pay, Japan’s JCBTurkey’s Iyzico and even Paymentwall (which was postponed) have already taken steps towards the full establishment in Iran. And now according to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Iranian payment system is connecting to Russian and Omani banks. 

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"Central Bank of Iran has rejected the claim by San Francisco-based Paymentwall that it has integrated its payment services into Shetab - Iran’s local payment system. Davoud Mohammad Beigi, Manager of payment systems of the Central Bank, told MNA that the Central Bank has not held any negotiations with Paymentwall over this issue. Managers of other companies active in electronic banking also said the connection of Shetab to Paymentwall cannot happen without coordination with the Central Bank, and this needs to be pursued at a macro level by officials at the Central Bank of Iran." (Mehr, "Paymentwall 'not connected' to Iranian banking system," 04/18/2016).

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Paymentwall announced: "With nuclear sanctions lifted from Iran, Paymentwall integrated Shetab (interbank information transfer network system). The Shetab is a unified, electronic clearance system for the entire Iranian banking operations that allows it to facilitate transactions from credit cards, ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Paymentwall’s CEO, stated that 'we believe that Iran has a strong business potential, and hopefully we will be able to go live with Shetab soon … [and] [b]y integrating Shetab, we want to allow foreign businesses to bring digital content to Iran and process payments there.'" (Paymentwall Website, "Paymentwall integrates Shetab in Iran," 04/15/2016).

Response: “Paymentwall is in the exploration phase of this opportunity [Iran business] and we are closely following the developments in US-Iran relationships.” (August 12, 2016)