InPost and MasterCard® promote card payments in the InPost® parcel machine network

The action called " Free Delivery Festival " aims to promotion of cashless payments when collecting parcels from online shops offering delivery of ordered goods within the Paczkomat® InPost network. During the holiday season, parcels from selected shops ordered to Parcel Machines®, will be exempt from delivery charges - provided they are paid for by card or MasterPass electronic wallet . Partners who have so far signed up to take part in the campaign include: Answear, BdSklep, Endo, Nexterio and Wittchen. Further participants will be added to the list, which can be found on the venture's website.

Pay for your parcel with MasterPass

Since October last year, card payments have been accepted at each of the more than 1,300 Paczkomat® InPost machines, and half of them also support contactless cards, which are very popular in Poland. InPost also allows payment via the MasterPass platform provided by MasterCard. MasterPass is already available in more than half of Polish online shops and nearly 250,000 online shops worldwide.

"We keep a close eye on the changing realities of the e-commerce market, providing merchants and customers with payment solutions that best meet the expectations of the today's consumers and by actively supporting the development of the Polish e-commerce sector and m-commerce. I am convinced that cooperation with InPost - one of the most innovative companies in the sector - will effectively support Polish e-tailers in further development" - says Bartosz Ciolkowski, CEO of the Polish branch of MasterCard Europe.

"The MasterPass service is a tool that responds to the needs of customers who expect more than just a the convenience of parcel collection, but also the freedom to choose a convenient forms of payment. The advantage of this solution is the possibility of paying for the cash on delivery, i.e. when the order physically arrives at the Parcel Machine®. The transaction is carried out via a dedicated online service, which is fully integrated into our machines. Implementation of the new solution in cooperation with MasterCard is undoubtedly an important step towards the popularisation of our services both in Poland and in other foreign e-commerce markets". - comments Maciej Padjas, Marketing Director of Paczkomaty® InPost.

Currently, the Paczkomat® InPost network in Poland has 1,300 terminals, and according to the adopted plan, it is expected to expand to 1,700 machines by the end of 2015. In 2014, the number of parcels delivered through them increased by more than 90.5 per cent compared to 2013 and by 440 per cent compared to 2012.

Non-cash payments

Promoting cashless payments for online purchases is another step towards supporting the development of the Polish e-commerce sector, which has a lot of catching up to do with Western economies in terms of the share of card payments. With a 7 per cent share of online card transactions, the Polish market is far behind markets such as France (over 70 per cent), Spain (60 per cent) or the United Kingdom (over 50 per cent). The lack of availability of card payments translates into lower customer confidence in Polish e-shops, but also into limited opportunities for Polish e-retailers to expand into foreign markets, accustomed to other payment standards.

MasterCard's involvement in the 'Free Delivery Festival' is another of the company's initiatives this year aimed at the Polish e-commerce sector. The previous one was the two-year E-commerce Development Programme, announced by MasterCard in February this year, in which the company will donate PLN 4 million for the development of Polish e-stores actively offering cashless payments online.