The statements by Alla Bakina, Director of the Bank of Russia’s National Payment System Department, are supported by the low adoption of these cards in the Russian Federation, which stands at less than 17%. Mir Cards and other payments have substituted Mastercard and Visa.
While Mastercard and Visa hold more than three-quarters of the international credit card market, the two companies announced their exit from the Russian market in 2022, in compliance with global sanctions.
On Monday, Alla Bakina, Director of the Bank of Russia’s National Payment System Department, revealed the institution’s stance on the impaired operation of these companies in the Russian market. According to Russian news agency TASS, Bakina stressed that Mastercard and Visa should “leave our market because they no longer carry out or provide the functionality they always ensured, while the National Payment Card System continues to bear the costs of supporting these cards.”
Bakina also revealed that Visa’s and Mastercard’s share in the payments market had been reduced to less than 17%. “The people had a sizable number of cards but the share of these instruments declined in the market during four-five years. The banks are performing the gradual substitution by other instruments, including Mir cards,” she declared.
