Russian banks note a significant increase in demand among foreigners for Mir cards in the first quarter

Russian banks note a significant increase in demand among foreigners for Mir cards in the first quarter. Tourists from China open their cards the most; the peak was observed in February, when the country celebrated the New Year. Participants in the tourism market clarify that the growth in inbound tourism began last year, and this year the flow may be two to three times greater.

As bankers interviewed by Kommersant told Kommersant, many of them had a noticeable increase in the number of foreign clients in the first quarter. A number of Kommersant’s interlocutors attribute the trend to the fact that in the fall of 2023, a law on a simplified procedure for opening “World” cards for foreigners came into force (see “Kommersant” dated October 12, 2023) – in October, a list of 25 countries was approved for whose citizens they available.

Sberbank’s subsidiary UMoney was the first to announce the start of issuing cards for foreigners at the end of last year. Its director for retail products, Andrei Efimochkin, told Kommersant that the number of cards issued by UMoney from January to March 2024 increased six times compared to November-December 2023. “The largest number of cards were issued to foreign tourists in February, this is due to the Chinese New Year – Chinese residents travel more often during the holiday period,” he explained. “In general, in the first quarter there were 14 times more transactions than in the fourth quarter of last year.”

Mr. Efimochkin clarified that cash withdrawals accounted for 11% of transactions, and purchases accounted for 89%. YuMoney added that citizens of about 50 countries applied for cards. The largest share (73%) falls on China, followed by Kazakhstan (6%), UAE (5%), Saudi Arabia and India (3% each).

Sberbank confirmed to Kommersant that they are seeing “stable demand for issuing cards to citizens of foreign countries.” Over the past year, at VTB, the number of non-residents who issued debit cards has more than tripled. Russian Standard Bank reported that the volume of transactions in January-March 2024 almost doubled year-on-year.

According to Sovcombank Managing Director Anna Kambulova, card issuance to non-residents in the first quarter of 2024 increased by almost 20% year-on-year, and “the share of active users has not decreased in the last 18 months.” Tinkoff Bank has observed a “significant increase in the issuance of debit cards to Chinese citizens” since September 2023, and since February 2024 the trend has become noticeable for citizens of Belarus and India.

Meanwhile, issuing cards to foreigners remotely is still not working. You need to come to Russia, sign an agreement, receive a payment card and a SIM card in order to work with the bank’s application, and then top up the card at an ATM or cash desk. “Subsequently, the card – and it is issued for a period of up to three years – can be replenished by transferring funds to a bank account, if there is a channel for such a transfer,” clarified Kommersant’s interlocutor in one of the banks.

Participants in the tourism market confirm that foreigners are “actively interested” in the opportunity to open cards from Russian banks. Intourist representative Daria Domostroeva says that the company advises on this matter: “Every second person asks a question, but we have no information about what proportion of tourists actually open cards.”

The growth of inbound tourism in Russia began last year, and the market expects it to accelerate significantly this year. According to the FSB Border Service, in 2023 the number of foreigners visiting Russia increased by 18.3%, to 15.5 million people, and the number of guests who declared a tourist purpose for the trip increased 3.3 times, to 670 thousand people.

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) associates the positive dynamics with the “opening of China and the introduction of electronic visas.” Vice-President of ATOR Sergei Romashkin believes that the flow of foreign tourists in 2024 will increase by one and a half to two times. Citizens of China will be in first place in terms of the number of guests; tourists from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and India will also be active, he believes. Intourist expects a threefold increase.

Maxim Builov, Alexandra Mertsalova