Named the reason for the cooling of banks of friendly countries to the payment system “Mir”

It’s about the risk of secondary sanctions

Abroad, a chain reaction of refusals to service the cards of the Russian payment system “Mir” began. Following the banks of Turkey, the credit organizations of Kazakhstan, Vietnam and, presumably, Armenia – countries that are clearly not from the category of unfriendly ones, stopped working with them. It seems that the plans of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to triple the geography of states interacting with the “Mir” will not come true: this “plastic” is becoming more and more toxic for financial institutions near and far abroad.

It is known for certain that the acceptance of Mir cards was suspended by the Vietnamese bank BIDV, Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan (Halyk Bank), and earlier by Turkish Is Bankasi and DenizBank. Contradictory information comes from Armenia: on the one hand, according to local media, cardholders (among whom tourists predominate) are unable to withdraw cash from ATMs and pay in stores. However, the banks themselves did not notify customers of any restrictions on their websites or by email. In turn, the Russian Central Bank said that foreign partners themselves manage the infrastructure for servicing Mir cards. That is, they are free to do what they want.

The situation is directly related to the actions of the Office for Foreign Assets Control (a division of the US Department of the Treasury), which warned financial institutions of third countries against expanding cooperation with the Mir payment system. Until recently, its cards could be used in Armenia, Belarus, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The Russian regulator planned to increase the number of Mir partner countries to 35. In any case, China, India, Egypt, Thailand, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Indonesia, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, Sri -Lanka. Now such prospects are becoming more and more elusive.

“Probably, Mir cards will be phased out in all countries that want to maintain good relations with the United States. And even the money that Russian tourists feed their economy will not be taken into account, – says Nikolai Pereslavsky, an employee of the Department of Economic and Financial Research at the CMS Institute. “The risk of falling under secondary sanctions from the US Treasury is too great.”

Apparently, in the near future, the procedures for issuing accounts and plastic cards Visa and MasterCard in foreign banks will become more complicated for Russians. We are talking about such hypothetical measures as raising the minimum amount for depositing funds in an account, having a residence permit and working in the country. Or, the expert argues, citizens and residents of the Russian Federation will be denied the right to apply simply by definition, by virtue of their passport affiliation to Russia.

“Of course, no one will close the possibility of visiting friendly countries for tourism purposes, and even a number of those classified as unfriendly,” Pereslavsky notes. – The authorities of these countries are not interested in reducing the inflow of financial resources into the economy, especially from such a proven, traditional source. But does it make sense for the Russians themselves to go on “card tourism” if there is a high risk of not achieving what they want?

According to the candidate of economic sciences, financial analyst Mikhail Belyaev, the plans announced by the Central Bank to expand the list of partner countries favorable to the Mir system to 35 are now in question. The outlook here is more bleak than hopeful. It makes sense to develop “card cooperation” only where there is a large influx of Russian tourists with their money, or entrepreneurs from the Russian Federation with their investments. But, based on the current geopolitical situation, this is no longer to be expected. Well, the United States will certainly act proactively, without loosening its grip and promptly blocking any attempts by the Russian regulator to expand the international “habitat” of the Mir system. Effective channels of influence on Turkey, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and, apparently, Armenia, their financial authorities have already found. Meanwhile, sums up Belyaev, these states are far from the definition of “unfriendly”, their economies are historically and very closely intertwined with the Russian one. All the more unpleasant is the situation that has developed in these countries with the cards of the Russian payment system.