Russia’s central bank is planning a gradual transition away from Visa and Mastercard in the domestic banking market as banks continue to shift users to the country’s Mir payment system, a Bank of Russia official, Alla Bakina, said, according to Russia’s State News Agency TASS.
Bakina, director of the Bank of Russia’s National Payment System Department, said Visa and Mastercard no longer provide the international payment and processing services they previously offered in Russia, while the National Payment Card System still covers the costs of supporting them.
The share of Visa and Mastercard cards in Russia’s market has fallen to below 17% over the past four to five years as banks increasingly replace them with Mir cards, the director said.
The two U.S. payment networks suspended operations in Russia in 2022 after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The same year, several Russian banks lost access to the SWIFT international payment system under Western sanctions.
Cards issued by Russian banks continued to work domestically through Russia’s own payment infrastructure, though they stopped functioning for most international transactions.
Bakina said financial incentives for banks and consumers will encourage the final withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard cards from the Russian market.
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