how Russians go abroad to get bank cards to bypass the western regions
After Ukraine unleashed a war against, many countries were detained on a strict demand. Russian banks have been banned: because of this, Russians can no longer pay with cards outside the country and use foreign payment services. Under these conditions, many Russian citizens are looking for workarounds – and massively buy bank cards in the CIS countries, Turkey and other regions that are not detected. How does such “card tourism” work?
A popular destination for “card tourism” is Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. Travel bloggers from Russia massively accumulate impressions of new places and tell how to arrange banking services there.
Stepan Loshkarev at first intended to go to Belarus for a map, but then he changed his mind: he did not rule out that it was in Minsk that the likelihood of Western events was assumed for Russia’s help in the war with Ukraine. In the end, I chose Tashkent: planes from Moscow fly there several times a day, and bank branches are happy to open their doors for tourists from Russia.
“This is how it looks like, an ordinary platinum visa, nothing supernatural,” he shows a new card. “We are 176th in line, so we even went to a smaller office, on the outskirts, where we were 20th. who gave me the card, said that they have a red passport more often than a green one – a local, Uzbek one.
Loshkarev says that to get a bank card in Uzbekistan, you only need a local SIM card, registration, which can be done at the hotel, and a couple of working days of waiting. After receiving the card, you can return to Russia and freely use Western services – bypassing.
Plus, I have a desire to go to Europe, buy things that are 2-3 times more expensive in Russia. And I want to pay for them. card, and I can, as a white man, pay for everything as before, in dollars, in Germany, Finland or somewhere else.
Similar trips in Russia and Kazakhstan. But there, in order to receive a bank card, with the exception of the loss of a SIM card, you need an IIN – an individual additional number. It can be done in one day. On average, according to those who traveled in Kazakhstan, it took them five days to wait for a card in Kazakhstani banks.
Vitaly Shakhmatov recently returned from Belarus: from there he also brought four brand new bank cards issued in different banks.
“I have Belkart-Mir, I have MTBank, I have two more Alfa cards: one in euros, one in Belarusian rubles,” he lists. Vitaly, that while Russian banks are under sanctions, he needs foreign cards to pay for Western services: a Google account, Netflix or Zoom. The Russian went to Belarus, issued a local SIM card there, and then went to the bank.
“It’s quite difficult to top up Russians in the cards of Belarus. This can be done through Qiwi, or with an even more complex scheme: from our Mir to transfer to Belkart-Mir, and from Belkart-Mir to withdraw to the Belarusian Mastercard, – – There is a commission there, that is, money, of course, is still released on the difference in the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble to the Russian ruble.
“I was in Minsk most of the time, I was sitting in the bank for about two hours, because the guys in the banks are not yet as digital as in Russia,” Shakhmatov also says. client”.
Compared to last year, banks in Belarus increased the issuance of cards by more than 11%, banks in Uzbekistan – by more than 26%, and Kyrgyzstan – by almost 40%. What proportion of cards falls on Russian customers is still unclear. But “card tours” are now sold by many Russian travel agencies that organize trips to the same cities in Central Asia. They promise that clients will be met at the airport, placed in a hotel, given a city tour, and then driven to the Document Processing Center and the bank.
“Such a tour is aimed at combining pleasure with privileges. travel agency Youtravel.me. For many, this is a big barrier, it’s still additional stress.”
The travel agency sells these trips for $600. Stepan’s independent “card tour” in Tashkent cost about the same. Vitaly’s trip to Minsk cost half as much.
“It is, of course, sad, but there is no choice,” says Vitaly Shakhmatov. “I think that the same Iranians forty years turned out to be worse.