Hello.
Sometimes it seems to me that some events do not require interpretation, they are clear without comment, everything lies on the surface so much. In some ways, this is a professional deformation, when you are immersed in a topic and have a formed opinion about what is happening. External events fall on a ready-made explanation. Something like this happened with the announcement of MegaFon, which the operator made for its subscribers using the services of Sberbank.
I will quote the most important thing: “From October 24, 2022, the conditions for replenishing a phone account through Sberbank will change. A commission of 1.44% will be charged for replenishment in the application and on the bank’s website, when paying by card at its terminals and branches, as well as by calling 900. At the same time, it will be possible to replenish for free from the Sberbank card in the MegaFon application or through the SBP.
Of course, I was struck by the variety of reactions in history, where everything is so transparent. The “bad” MegaFon allegedly wants to charge money from subscribers, although it does not take into account the fact that nothing like this happens with other banks. Let’s see how the acceptance of payments to mobile operators works in order to understand the logic of each side.
Mobile operators create a constant cash flow, we pay for communication services monthly. Banks make payments to operators and charge them a certain percentage, each transaction brings money to the bank. The percentage differs from bank to bank, but it can usually be considered insignificant, while Sber has set a rate of 1.44% for all operators, which can be considered prohibitive. Rumors say that one of the operators was able to achieve a rate cut, but there was no fundamental change. For Sberbank, the cash flow from payment for communication services looks very significant. For example, MegaFon’s revenue for 2021 amounted to 354.2 billion rubles. It is clear that not all the money came from individuals, there are additional sources of income. But if we take one billion rubles paid with Sberbank cards to understand the amount, it turns out that the bank receives 14.4 million rubles. Practically without expenses, as they say, out of thin air. If we evaluate all payments to operators in the Russian market at a trillion rubles a year, and Sberbank’s share is at least 50%, then we get an amount of 7.2 billion rubles a year. It’s just that this amount is important for understanding what the bank is fighting for.
The market situation is such that Sberbank uses its position in the market. I asked for a comment in the press service of MegaFon, and this is what they answered: “Sberbank has the highest commission for paying for mobile communications through its own channels, more than 100 times higher than the conditions of other banks. Previously, MegaFon compensated subscribers for this difference, in the current conditions, when the costs of operators for the provision of services are growing, this is inappropriate. We applied to the bank to reduce the commission a month ago, but were refused. In order to continue paying for communication services without a commission, we offer subscribers alternative methods. You can still pay for services without a commission with a Sber card in your MegaFon account or communication stores. You can also pay through the fast payment system and other banks’ own channels.”
Think about it! The Sberbank commission is 100 times higher than that of other banks. In the end, the bank has the right to do so, but MegaFon’s move hits him hard, showing that its conditions are unfavorable for customers. I, as a private person, receive a commission with a regular payment, and, of course, this is sad. It turns out that I need to look for a way to avoid it, since there are such ways. How many people just don’t know about it? I think that the bill will go not to tens of thousands, but to millions of people in the country. And the reason here is not the operator, which, on the contrary, is trying to save the cost of services for its subscribers, to remove such a percentage.
The situation of Sberbank and MegaFon is not unique, exactly the same conditions apply to other companies. But here you need to take into account the fact that the mutual interests of mobile operators and Sberbank are much wider. The most obvious thing that comes to mind is SMS messages that banks buy from operators, Sberbank is no exception. Let’s look at the inner workings of a bank.
The average bank customer receives about 40 SMS per month. Your number may be higher, others may be lower. For me, Sberbank is a reserve bank, so the number of SMS is minimal. If you count in the forehead, then the cost of one SMS will be about 50 kopecks for the bank, which will result in 20 rubles. But the bank does not pay that kind of money for one SMS, each operator has its own agreements, but the price is much lower.
Let’s start from retail prices and see how much Sberbank takes from its customers.
It turns out that here Sber does not miss its goal, even if we assume that the bank pays 20 rubles a month for SMS to operators, then it puts 50 rubles in its pocket (the SMS informing service costs 70 rubles a month!). Somehow expensive for customers, don’t you think?
You can also remember that the operators and the bank have certain credit lines, mutual interests that affect the relationship in each of the aspects. Considering their lack of transparency, I don’t presume to judge how interests are distributed here, but the bank will obviously not miss its own.
Emotions will not help matters here, since Sberbank does not have an excellent perception in everything and not always, big business always has certain shortcomings that affect its image. But specifically in this situation, all the negativity is justified, since using the example of two services, we see that the bank is trying to get super profits out of nothing. It seems that these are pennies, but in fact, with an audience of millions of people, they result in hundreds of millions of additional income, which is not justified by anything, except for the desire to receive as much money as possible from services provided by third-party companies – in our case, mobile operators. And I see this as the wrong approach.
The business interests of each company are clear, but the behavior of Sberbank is reminiscent of the actions of an elephant in a china shop; in a crisis, prices cannot be set at prohibitively high levels. Everyone is trying to increase their efficiency, but doing it at someone else’s expense is unacceptable.