S7 Airlines and Alpha Bank Conduct the First Blockchain Payment in Russia

S7 Airlines, in partnership with Alpha Bank, have conducted еhe first Blockchain payment using Ethereum-based smart contracts in Russia.

The transaction was conducted by PJSC Siberia Airlines, operating as S7 Airlines, and one of the counterparties, the name of which was not disclosed, using a letter of credit covered by Alpha Bank.

Dmitry Kudelkin, the Deputy General director of S7 Group commented via the company's press service:

"This transaction allowed us to test the performance of smart contracts and to understand how this technology can optimize business processes and improve the efficiency of document management. We plan to continue the cooperation with Alfa-Bank in this field."

The director of the E-business Innovation center at Alfa-Bank, Nadezhda Avdanina, noted that the use of Blockchain technology increases the speed of payment processing. She continued by saying:

"[This is] an ideal solution for businesses that make transactions with a large number of participants, as well as if the transactions involves new participants, who don’t have enough trust to each other yet." 

She also noted that if the number of banks, large companies and individuals that make transactions via blockchain grows, so more "transparent, faster and cheaper will become the financial cooperation."