NICOSIA, Cyprus, April 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QIWI plc, (NASDAQ:QIWI) (MOEX:QIWI) ("QIWI" or the "Company") today announced that Visa QIWI Wallet mobile application won 2016 Pay Awards as M-Wallet of the Year and was elected the best in "Payment Technologies" category.

The Best-in-Category winners of 2016 Pay Awards were announced on the first day of All Payments Expo (APEX) in New Orleans, USA. In its 10 years' history, Pay Awards has become one of the most prestigious recognitions of excellence in the worldwide prepaid, mobile and emerging payments industry, identifying the best companies and projects. In 2015, more than 21,000 individuals participated in Best-in-Category voting along with a group of experts.

Visa QIWI Wallet mobile application, which enables users to make transfers and payments for thousands of goods and services with a mobile phone, applying Visa card solutions and HCE technology, was recognized as M-Wallet of the Year by Pay Awards panel of experts and participants of online voting.

Visa QIWI Wallet, QIWI Group's flagship e-wallet product is one of the most popular* and widespread e-wallets in Russia. It has a mobile application for Android and iOS and is available through web-interface, QIWI terminals, smart watches and smart TV. As of the end of 2015, the number of active Visa QIWI Wallets was above 16 million. Visa QIWI Wallet is available as a payment option in thousands of Russian online-shops and international marketplaces, which makes it a popular payment solution and one of the drivers of e-commerce development in Russia.

"Recognition by Pay Awards proves that Visa QIWI Wallet is one of the best examples of multi-purpose financial services for everyday life and business, - said Anna Stoklitskaya, Managing Director of QIWI Group. — We are proud that experts and users all over the world appreciated our joint efforts with Visa aimed at continuous improvement of the e-wallet, expansion of its payment functionality, enhancement of security and high level of usability. This year we will continue our work ensuring that lots of interesting options and features await all Visa QIWI Wallet users."

"Mobile technologies are among the main drivers of development of electronic payments, creating opportunities for building new payment methods. We are pleased with our partnership with QIWI, which enables millions of Russian customers to benefit from innovative payment technologies as well as boosts e-commerce growth. I hope that our experience will serve as an example for other market participants stimulating them to create innovative solutions", - said Andrew Torre, CEO of Visa in Russia.

Click here to view the entire list of 2016 Pay Awards winners.

* According to the data of RosIndex research by Ipsos Comcon as of March 2016

About QIWI

QIWI is a leading provider of next generation payment services in Russia and the CIS. It has an integrated proprietary network that enables payment services across physical, online and mobile channels. It has deployed over 16.1 million virtual wallets, over 172,000 kiosks and terminals, and enabled merchants to accept over RUB 70 billion cash and electronic payments monthly from over 67 million consumers using its network at least once a month. QIWI's consumers can use cash, stored value and other electronic payment methods to order and pay for goods and services across physical or online environments interchangeably.

Contact

Yakov Barinskiy
Head of M&A and Investor Relations
+7.499.709.0192
ir@qiwi.com

Varvara Kiseleva
Investor Relations
+7.499.709.0192
ir@qiwi.com

Visa QIWI Wallet receives M-Wallet of the Year award