“Pay 45,000”: how to get a foreign bank card in Moscow

When there is a demand, there is a supply – and in Moscow over the past year, several intermediary companies have appeared offering to issue a foreign card remotely. Prices for services start from 20 thousand rubles – this is the cheapest “package” that provides for issuing a card in Kyrgyzstan. The most expensive offer is almost 70 thousand rubles for a Turkish bank card, for which a notarized power of attorney is required.

Well, let’s approach the consultants with the seemingly simplest request: they need a card for booking hotels and buying tickets via the Internet. All point. No online wallets, service subscriptions, intentions to “pay by phone”. What could be more banal!

– Probably, the cheapest tariff will suit me?

– No, – the consultant readily explains, – the cheapest tariff will provide you with just a plastic “blank”, but you will not be able to use it to pay via the Internet. Here is another option, more expensive, but here the card is tied to a Russian phone number, and experience shows that transaction notifications do not always reach Russian numbers. Accordingly, you will not be able to confirm online payment if you need it.

– Well, what are the options?

– I would offer you such a map of Kazakhstan. Here, the account is in several currencies, it is convenient to replenish through a correspondent bank, you can use it through your phone …

Everything, except for the price of the service, sounds very rosy – only 45 thousand rubles are already being offered to pay for a miracle card.

– Or maybe this tariff? – I do not lose hope to save at least a few thousand. – Here is also Kazakhstan, but for 37 thousand. What is the difference? Is this card worse?

– This card is tied to a Russian SIM card. If you pay for purchases on the Internet with it, there is a risk that the SMS about the transaction simply will not go through, and you will not be able to confirm the operation – the consultant does not seem to persuade, but gently makes it clear that savings are inappropriate in this case.

Indeed, spending a lot of money on a card, and then discovering that it does not work is a so-so prospect … However, there is still such a risk. And yet these at least 45, at least 37 thousand you actually give to the village of your grandfather, you do not personally control the process and, strictly speaking, you can only trust other people’s reviews.

Well, reviews vary. A few months ago, users (or is it more correct to call them deceived depositors?) Massively complained about the difficulties with the cards of Kyrgyzstan, more precisely, of one particular Kyrgyz bank. As it turned out, the bank with which the intermediaries cooperated at some point stopped serving Russian citizens, and all cards were blocked. People who wanted to free their money from their accounts were politely offered to fly to Bishkek, and as compensation – to issue a new card, for example, Kazakhstan, with a 60% discount.

Although the design of the card through intermediaries strongly resembles the intention to get involved in an adventure, there is no shortage of people willing – even during our short, hardly ten-minute conversation, a queue of three people is already lining up (and new ones are coming!). The request is typical: you need to be able to pay outside of Russia – even offline, even online.

Well, with alternatives – sparsely.

Most banks in Uzbekistan tightened the screws back in the fall of 2022, and now applications for opening accounts are accepted only from those Russians who spent at least 15 days in the country (before applying to the bank). This means that the idea of ​​driving to Samarkand for the weekend, walking along Gur-Emir Square, and at the same time making a card, is no longer relevant. You need at least two weeks – plus another week, until the card is made. Not everyone can afford to spend three weeks without going out in Uzbekistan.

In most banks in Armenia, to open an account, you will need a lease agreement, an employment contract with an employer in Armenia and other additional documents confirming that you came to Yerevan for more than one day (and most card tourists do just that).

The conditions in Kyrgyzstan look the easiest – they require a Russian passport, a passport with a stamp on entry into the territory of Kyrgyzstan, a temporary registration coupon, and a local SIM card. The flaws of the scheme are different: firstly, Kyrgyzstan itself is a much less attractive destination for tourists than Uzbekistan or Armenia, and secondly, problems with servicing Russian clients when applying for a personal card will also not go away. If the bank decided to block the Russians, it is not so interesting to it whether they issued cards through an intermediary or directly.

Is it possible to do abroad without a bank card at all? Theoretically, it is possible, even if we are talking about trips to Europe: after all, until recently, everyone easily managed with cash.

However, difficulties most often occur not when shopping, but when booking something via the Internet – for example, offices that offer car rental almost always require a bank card for a guarantee (or the rental price rises sharply), in the same way a card may be required for a guarantee hotel reservations, even if you plan to pay in cash.

Another important nuance is the purchase of tickets to large museums, especially those where they need to be “snatched” in advance: for example, it is almost impossible to buy a ticket for an excursion to the Vatican Gardens or the Alhambra Palace, just standing in line at the box office – the demand there is significantly ahead offer.