Mir cards will stop working in Kyrgyzstan. How will the problem with payments by Russians be solved?

Cards of the Mir payment system will stop working in Kyrgyzstan. Russian cards will no longer be serviced in the republic from Friday, April 5.

The operator of the national payment system of Kyrgyzstan “Elkart” – “Interbank Processing Center” (IPC) – explained that it had terminated its relationship with the National Payment Card System (NPSK), which is the operator of the “Mir” cards, due to the imposition of US sanctions against it. The Kyrgyz operator noted that he considers the uninterrupted operation of the system within the republic his priority.

Due to the termination of the operator’s relationship with NSPK, cards of the Kyrgyz system will stop working in Russia. This will also happen from April 5th. 21 banks participate in the Elkart system.

Moreover, later in the NSPK told on receipt of official notification of the cessation of operation of the Kyrgyz payment system with the Russian Mir system from 9 am on April 3, 2024.

The Central Bank announced the search for a solution to the problem with Mir cards

The Central Bank of Russia stated that they are aware of the current situation with cards of the Mir payment system. The first deputy chairman of the regulator, Olga Skorobogatova, noted that the Central Bank is looking for solutions to problems with accepting card data.

According to her, the Bank of Russia is studying the possibility of expanding the ATM network of foreign subsidiaries of Russian banks and using the fast payment system (FPS) in other countries. She added that several countries, including tourism ones, have already opened ATMs and POS terminals. Also, Skorobogatova recalled, Russian banks operate in states that have refused to accept Mir cards.

Mir cards previously stopped working in Armenia

On March 30, Mir cards stopped working en masse in Armenia. The republic's banks, which are members of the national payment system Armenian Card (ArCa), have ceased servicing them. At the same time, VTB Armenia Bank, as an exception, continued to work with Russian cards. Currently, there are 53 branches and more than 190 ATMs of this financial organization in Armenia. Cash withdrawals, payment for services, and transfers are still available at the bank.

The fact that the NSPK received a corresponding notification from the Armenian payment system ArCa became known on March 19. The republic explained that the decision was made due to the threat of introducing American secondary restrictions.

In addition, on April 2 it became known that one of the largest banks in Kazakhstan, Halyk Bank (People's Bank), also stopped servicing Mir cards. The financial institution explained that this decision was made back in February. Halyk Bank did not name the reasons for introducing such restrictions.