The list of countries where Mir cards are accepted is complemented with the Republic of Korea, according to TASS, Russian news agency.
The Republic of Korea is now in the list of countries where Mir debit and credit cards can be used for cash withdrawals in ATMs and to pay for goods and services.
Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia were earlier included into this list.
„In addition to the 10 countries that now accept [Mir cards], there are four more on the agenda. I can’t say the names, but just over the last two months two countries have been added. We hope that you will learn about them soon,” Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Chairperson of the Bank of Russia, told reporters last month at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
It seems like Nigeria could be one of them. According to Sputnik, Nigeria and Russia are discussing the possibility of using the Russian Mir payment system cards in Nigeria, the country’s Ambassador to Russia Abdullahi Shehu told the news agency.
„We are also discussing the use of the Mir payment system in Nigeria, our financial institutions are in dialogue with Russian partners on this matter,” Abdullahi Shehu said.
„Today, if you go to Africa, you need to have cash on hand -in Dollars, Euros, Pounds. You’ll be unlikely to exchange rubles,” the Nigerian ambassador explained.
Also, Mir cards may start operating in the United Arab Emirates. Negotiations on this topic have already begun. They are attended by representatives of central banks and, in general, the banking sector of two states – the Russian Federation and the United Arab Emirates.
Last month, U Aung Naing Oo, minister of investment and foreign economic relations of Myanmar, said that Myanmar and Russia were discussing the possible use of Russian Mir payment system cards in the Asian country.
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In 2014, after Crimea voted to join Russia in a referendum, the National Payment Card System (NPCS), the operator of ‘MIR’ cards, was created. Mir cards have been issued since December 2015.
The word “mir” means “world” or “peace” in English. It was created in case of a disconnection of cards from international payment systems.
Even then, budget organizations began to gradually abandon payments to Visa and Mastercard cards. Pensions, social benefits and salaries to employees of budgetary organizations began to be transferred to ‘MIR’ payment system.
According to the NPCS, in the summer of 2021, more than 50% of Russians had at least one ‘MIR’ card. By the end of the third quarter of 2021, it accounted for 25.2% of all payments in the country, with a total of 112 million cards issued. The figure increase to 125 million cards at the first quarter of this year. Currently, 158 banks issue Mir cards.
Credit photo: Kyrill Zykov/ Agency „Moskva”
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
