Mir (payment system)

Mir
Industry Financial services
Founded 2015
Area served
 The Russian Federation
Products Debit cards, Credit cards, payment systems
Website http://mironline.ru/

Mir (Russian: Мир, IPA: [ˈmʲir]; lit. the world; peace) is a national payment system established by the Central Bank of Russia by the law adopted in May 1, 2017.[1] It is currently accepted mostly by Russia-based companies, such as Aeroflot or Russian Railways, though it is gradually gaining acceptance among foreign companies with Russian operations.[2] The system is operated by The Russian National Card Payment System, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of Russia.[3]

The system was devised in 2014 as a way to overcome potential blocks of electronic payments, after several Russian banks were denied services by US-based Visa and MasterCard because of the sanctions regime against them.[4] The first cards working on the Mir system were launched in December 2015.[5] Sberbank, Russia's leading bank, started issuing them in October 2016.[6] By the end of 2016, 1.76 million Mir cards had been issued by 64 banks,[7] rising to 19 million by September 2017.[8]

Mir is mainly promoted by the Russian government, with proposed legislation mandating that all welfare payments should be processed through the system by January 2018.[9] Banks are reluctant to issue them, as their cost might be higher compared to cards belonging to more established payments systems.[10][11][12] On May 1, 2017 the law mandating all banks to use Mir for welfare and pension payments entered into force.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Путин подписал закон об обязательном переводе бюджетников на карты "Мир"". Interfax.ru (in Russian). 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  2. ↑ "AliExpress First Foreign Company to Accept Russia's Mir Payment Cards". Moscow Times. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Bank of Russia issues warning over Mir payment cards". Russia Beyond The Headlines. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "McDonald's first U.S. business to accept Russia's new Mir payment card". UPI. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "Seven Russian banks start issuing first cards of Mir payment system". www.thepaypers.com. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Sberbank launches servicing of Mir payment cards". Russia Beyond The Headlines. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "About 20 mln Mir cards may be issued next year in Russia". TASS (in Russian). Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "NPCS may reach target of 20 mln Mir cards in 2017". 1Prime. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Top Russian Banks Lobby Against Forced Use of Kremlin's Mir Payment Card". Moscow Times. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  10. ↑ News, East-West Digital (20 June 2016). "National bank card MIR soon accepted ubiquitously in Russia in spite of security and financial challenges". East-West Digital News. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  11. ↑ Колебакина, Дмитрий Катаргин, Елена. "«Карта «Мир» – это такая советская ситуация, когда «счастье» навязывается сверху...»". БИЗНЕС Online (in Russian). Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  12. ↑ "Банки объяснили причины высокой стоимости национальной платежной карты". РБК. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
  13. ↑ "Путин подписал закон об обязательном переводе бюджетников на карты "Мир"". Interfax.ru (in Russian). 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2018-08-22.
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