Troy card instead of the Mir card: the shortcomings of the scheme are revealed

What risks threaten the launch of joint payment projects of Moscow and Ankara

The authorities continue to fight for the payment freedom of Russian tourists in Turkey. However, the hope that arose the day before for cooperation with the Troy payment system, the cards of which our vacationers could issue to visit Turkey, has not yet turned into a real project. According to the head of Rostourism, Zarina Doguzova, Russian tourists will not be able to issue a card of this Turkish payment system today. This opportunity is available only to those who arrived in Turkey for the purpose of long-term residence.

And the most real payment method for compatriots is still cash, since it is easy to buy Turkish lira for rubles at the airport or exchange points. What prevents the cooperation of the Troy payment system with the Russians and how to fix the problems, experts told MK.

Interest in the cards of the Turkish payment system arose the day before, when the travel portal TourDom quoted travel agent Maria Sheker as saying that “Russian tourists can already get Troy cards in Turkey.” According to the publication, you can get this card in two or three business days after contacting the Turkish bank that issues it. To issue it, you will need to issue a local TIN and a SIM card.

The publication, indeed, noted that the Troy card would be convenient for those who came to Turkey for a long time and who are inconvenient to pay in cash, however, it was not denied that this payment system was not available to tourists at all.

It should also be taken into account that statements about the possible wide release of Troy cards for Russian tourists fell on fertile ground from the news coming from the Turkish side. Recall that last week the Minister of Treasury and Finance of Turkey, Nureddin Nebati, bluntly stated that his country is looking for an alternative to Russian Mir cards. Local newspaper Aydinlik reported that Troy was proposed as a replacement for the Russian payment system. To

In addition to this decision, as a possible option, according to the director of the Russian-Turkish Business Council, Alexei Egarmin, Ankara suggested that Moscow consider creating a separate bank. Another alternative was announced by Turkish tourism organizations. According to Sabah, they offered to sell tours to Turkey along with a prepaid card, the costs of which would be debited from the account of Turkish tour operators. Such a card can be used in restaurants, shopping and entertainment establishments.

The search for alternatives to Mir cards began about a month ago, after Turkish banks began to refuse services due to fears of secondary sanctions against them from the United States. In mid-September, the US Treasury promised to impose restrictions on foreign banks that continue to cooperate with the Russian payment system contrary to Washington’s orders. The problem for Turkey turned out to be very sensitive, because this country traditionally receives a large number of Russian tourists. So, only from January to July of this year, almost 2.2 million compatriots visited Turkish resorts. Our country ranked second after Germany in this indicator.

Turkey’s interest in maintaining the Russian tourist flow is evidenced by the fact that President Erdogan personally held two meetings with members of his government on the issue of replacing the Mir card. Immediately after these meetings, the option with Troy cards surfaced, which began to be discussed at the level of central banks and tourism departments of the two countries. The members of this payment system are 29 Turkish banks and financial institutions, among which there are very large DenizBank, Ziraat Bankasi and Is Bankasi, as well as banks with subsidiary credit organizations in Russia.

At the same time, the cards themselves do not yet occupy a particularly noticeable market share. “It is difficult to call Troy a strong Turkish payment system, since it was launched back in 2016, and its share in the Turkish payment card market today is only 4%,” says Vladimir Chernov, analyst at Freedom Finance Global. — This is a common payment system with the possibility of SWIFT transfers and interaction with Visa and Mastercard cards. It is quite capable of becoming an alternative to the Mir system for Russians vacationing in Turkey, if its registration does not take much time.

Since the payment system itself has existed for a long time, in order to launch the process of issuing it, compatriots only need to make a political decision and formalize it in the legal field. This process can be launched within a few days, the expert is sure.

But there are also more pessimistic views about the use of these cards by Russians. According to the Associate Professor of the Department of World Financial Markets and Fintech of the Russian University of Economics. G.V. Plekhanov Maxim Markov, in the current format, Troy cards are not a full-fledged and effective replacement for Mir. They can only be issued in Turkey, the procedure takes several days, for obtaining it is necessary to issue a Turkish TIN and a Turkish SIM card. All this makes obtaining a card difficult and meaningless for people who came to Turkey for the purpose of a short-term holiday – say, for a week.

“To effectively address this issue, it is necessary to create the possibility of issuing cards in Turkish banks operating in Russia, or issuing Mir-Troy co-badged (joint) cards,” the expert says. – The first option is now hardly possible due to the threat of US sanctions. The second, for the same reason, seems also difficult, but more probable. And here everything depends on the interest of the Turkish side in maintaining and developing relations with Russia and in mass tourism. But even in this case, the issue will require a serious study of both technical and legal aspects.”

The latter are especially relevant in the current geopolitical and economic conditions, which are constantly changing. It will take time to work them out, you should not expect quick decisions, the expert emphasized.