Another country accepts Russia's Mir payment system

On July 16, TASS news agency quoted the Russian Embassy in Myanmar as saying that the Mir payment system has begun limited operations at some restaurants and shopping centers in Myanmar.

Russia's Mir payment card. (Source: The Banker)

The Russian Embassy in Myanmar hopes that the payment system will be expanded in the near future and help Russian tourists have a comfortable vacation in this Southeast Asian country.

Myanmar has become the 13th country where the Mir payment system is operating. In addition, six other countries are ready to negotiate the use of the Russian payment system.

Moscow has been trying to reduce the financial impact from the West after it was hit with sanctions in 2014 over its annexation of Crimea. At the time, Visa and Mastercard handled most of Russia’s card business.

In March 2014, hundreds of thousands of Russians found their cards stopped working overnight. US sanctions over Crimea forced Visa and Mastercard to block services with some Russian banks.

Moscow immediately recognized the problem. Within months, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law establishing the National Card Payment System (NSPK), tasked with running a financial system that handles card transactions in Russia, including those bearing the Mastercard and Visa logos.

Visa and Mastercard were then asked to transfer their transaction processing back to NSPK. Initially, the two companies resisted and said they would leave Russia. But in early 2015, they agreed to use NSPK’s system.

That same year, NSPK launched Mir, which means “world” and “peace” in Russian. As of December 2023, with more than 139 million cards issued by state and private banks, Mir is one of the most important systems in Russia.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/them-mot-quoc-gia-chap-nhan-he-thong-thanh-toan-mir-cua-nga-278881.html