Key Takeaways
- Mir cards captured 85% of Russia’s market as sanctions rendered Visa and Mastercard effectively useless.
- Remaining foreign cards will soon fail due to physical wear and the expiration of security certificates.
- Russia’s central bank announced a gradual phase-out for international cards without strict timeframes.
Mastercard and Visa ‘Absent’ from Russia as Cards Reach Expiration
As local options rise, the Russian card market is being increasingly driven by Mir alternatives after Mastercard and Visa, the two international credit giants, exited the country amid a sanctions push.
Dmitry Dubynin, CEO of the National Payment Card System (NSPK), stressed that international cards were absent from the Russian market, with local alternatives retaking almost all of the credit card market share.
“I would even say that Visa and Mastercard cards are effectively absent from the Russian market. Their cards no longer provide any value: they do not work abroad, there is no access to the loyalty programs of these payment systems, and so on,” said Dubynin in an interview with Expert magazine.
Dubynin compared these leftover cards to pieces of plastic bearing the logos of international companies that no longer operate in Russia, stressing that local support kept them operating.
He commented that eventually, these cards will fail as they endure wear and tear and their security certificates expire. Nonetheless, the NSPK is implementing measures to ensure its continued operation even under these circumstances.
“The share of cards issued by international payment systems continues to decline naturally. Today, nearly 85% of the market is accounted for by Mir cards, and that share will undoubtedly continue to grow,” Dubynin assessed.
Earlier statements by Alla Bakina, Director of the Bank of Russia’s National Payment System Department, who invited Visa and Mastercard to leave the country completely due to the lack of functionality of their cards, raised concerns among the population that still relied on these solutions.
Nonetheless, on July 2, central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina disclosed that there would be no timeframes for their withdrawal, indicating that they would be phased out gradually.