What are the options for replacing Mir for Russia and Turkey
Turkey and Russiawillow of the domestic payment system “Mir”. Several options are being discussed, the status of which is not clear. Meanwhile, in Turkey, all transactions on the Mir card are conditionally suspended: you cannot withdraw cash in banks, and in stores they are sold out for purchases.
TURKEY OFFERED RUSSIA TROY INSTEAD OF “MIRA”
Instead of the Mir card, it is proposed to use the Troy national payment system, the local newspaper Aydinlik reported, citing sources. According to her, the issue is being discussed by the central banks of the two countries. There is no confirmation of this information from the Russian side.
The Troy payment system was launched in 2016 to increase the volume of cashless transactions in Turkey. This is the same national payment card system as the Russian Mir, but, unlike it, the territory of action is limited to Turkey. the exception is that the excessive loss of card systems for many countries. They are in France, Brazil, etc.
According to Aydinlik, as of March 2022, there are more than 12 million Troy bank cards in the country.
According to Aydinlik, two options are being discussed with the participation of Russian banks that are not subject to US sanctions. Either Russian banks start working with the Troy payment system on their own, or they are attracted to the help of one of the Turkish banks, whose representative office is in the Russian Federation (the same Ziraat Bankası, Denizbank, Iş Bankası work in Russia). Thus, according to the publication, the Russians will have the opportunity to open a Troy bank card, which can be used to make purchases in Turkey.
It is expected that in the case of the United States, there will be increased pressure on the Turkish authorities, since the Troy system and all operations are carried out inside the country under the supervision of the prison.
ALL OPERATIONS ON THE MIR CARD IN TURKEY ARE SUSPENDED
On Thursday, Aydinlik also quoted Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance Nurettin Nebati, who officially announced that the acceptance and servicing of Russian Mir cards is under suspension.
This information is approved by ATOR Vestnik and is a representative of the Turkish tourism industry: cash can no longer be withdrawn from ATMs using the Mir card, in stores they are sold for purchases. All cards do not work: and non-sanctioned bank cards, including Tinkoff, too.
According to Mr. Nebati, the two countries are working on an alternative to Mir.
“There is an alternative solution for the Mir system, we will announce it when it is ready,” the finance minister said. In all likelihood, the Alternative mentioned by Minister Nebati is Turkish Troy.
Observers point to several factors that raise doubts about the launch of Troy in Russia. Firstly, this is the very fact of replacing the Russian payment system with the Turkish one. Those. not Russian cards are promoted in Turkey, but Turkish cards are promoted here in Russia. This calls into question all investments in the cross-border development of the Russian Mir system.
The status of the discussions is also unclear. Rather, these are the wishes of the Turkish side. In addition, a dubious option is currently emerging, in which Russia issues a non-international (like UnionPay), but a strictly national card system with the right to issue into the country. The production of co-bagged (two-chip – “Mir” and Troy) cards is also special, although because the country already lacks chips. But, of course, in our time everything is possible, the future will show what will come in the end.
WHAT OTHER OPTIONS OF REPLACING “MIR” IN TURKEY ARE NAMED
The Troy option is not the only one. According to Turkish media, a scheme is being discussed through which tourists can buy goods and services from their countries through an online system.
At the end of September, the director of the Russian-Turkish Business Council (RTBC), Alexei Egarmin, said that Ankara could be a separate bank to create work with cards of the Russian payment system Mir, which would not depend on US and EU sanctions pressure.
The existence of various options, which are mentioned with links to various sources, says only one thing. The search for options for using the Russian Mir cards in Turkey and in the context of settlement schemes between the two countries is really underway. However, the maximum final decision will be made on the consideration of the financial and economic interests of the Russian Federation, tourism is only one of many tasks with more than more capacious ones: oil and gas, agro-industrial complex, shipping and others.
Elena Myagkova
Photo: ATOR