MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Visa and Mastercard cards should leave the Russian market since they no longer provide the functionality they once ensured, Director of the Bank of Russia’s National Payment System Department Alla Bakina said.
Experts interviewed by TASS expressed the opinion that the final withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard cards from Russia will be gradual and orderly, with users calmly and progressively switching to Mir cards. TASS has compiled the key facts about the situation.
Decline in use
Bakina pointed out that the Visa and Mastercard payment systems had effectively exited the Russian market, while "a sufficient number of cards remained in people’s hands, but over four to five years the share of these instruments in the market has declined."
She noted that banks are gradually replacing them with other instruments, including Mir cards. Bakina specified that the share of Visa and Mastercard cards currently stands at below 17%.
