Money in Your Inbox: New Transfers from Yandex

21 November 2013

For the first time, Russian internet users can send money over email.

To send a ‘money letter’, a user needs to have a Yandex.Mail account and Yandex.Money e-Wallet. The recipient’s email address, however, can have any domain name.

“For a while now, email services have been more than just a means of communication: people need new tools that help them complete more tasks in less time,” said Egor Ganin, head of the Yandex.Mail service. “That’s why we created ‘money letters’: they’re the fastest way to put talk into action. A group of people can discuss a present for a mutual friend over email, and then everyone sends a ‘money letter’ to the person who’s going to buy the present. No need for extra explanations about how to put in your share.”

‘Money letters’ are as easy to send as ordinary ones. A user enters an email address and writes a message as usual, but instead of attaching a file from his computer, the sender attaches some Yandex.Money from his account. Within seconds, notification about the transfer is delivered to the recipient’s inbox. The recipient then has the option of putting the whole amount on his e-Wallet immediately or, if the amount exceeds 100 rubles, putting it on a bank card. The latter takes several business days (the exact waiting time depends on the bank who issued the card).

“Each month, our users send each other over half a million transfers,” says Alla Savchenko, Head of Product Management at Yandex.Money. “The introduction of ‘money letters’ makes this process even simpler: email addresses are much easier to remember than account numbers or credit card details.”

Users can also send transfers to people who don’t have an e-Wallet from the Yandex.Money website or its mobile version.