World National Payment System

The operator of the system is the joint-stock company "National Payment Card System" ([[NSPK 'National Payment Card System NSPK]])

History

2024

Launch in Myanmar

The Mir payment system was launched in July 2024 in some restaurants and shopping centers in Myanmar. This was reported to the TASS agency at the Russian Embassy in the republic. Read more here.

Launch in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan In earned cards of the payment system "Mir." Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Galuzin spoke about this in June 2024. According to him, it is already possible to remove Azerbaijani manats using the Mir system card in ATMs. VTB

Kyrgyzstan has created its own software for the resumption of the Mir cards

On July 9, 2024, Kyrgyzstan announced the creation of its own software for the resumption of the work of Russian Mir maps. This initiative was voiced by the Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Republic Daniyar Amangeldiev.

In his speech, Daniyar Amangeldiev stressed that new software is being developed in response to the requirements of European partners, which forced to suspend the service of Mir cards from April 2024.

Kyrgyzstan has developed software to resume the work of Mir cards

According to RBC, the service of Mir cards in Kyrgyzstan was stopped at the request of a Latvian company supplying software for the local Elkart payment system. This measure was necessary to avoid disconnecting the country's interbank processing center (MPC). In response, Bishkek began developing its software to restore the operation of Russian maps.

Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov previously explained that the termination of service of Mir cards has become a serious problem for citizens of Kyrgyzstan living in Russia and using these cards. For three years, Bishkek tried to convince Moscow to open a branch of a large Russian bank in Kyrgyzstan, but to no avail. Akylbek Japarov expressed disappointment with the slowness of the Russian banking sector, noting that the opening of at least one bank branch would greatly ease the situation.

The situation with Mir cards became more complicated after the introduction of US sanctions against the National Payment Card System (NSPK), the operator of these cards, in February 2024. These sanctions led to the fact that a number of countries, including Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, stopped servicing Mir cards. However, in Armenia, VTB Armenia Bank continues to work with Russian cards in its infrastructure, despite the restrictions.^[1]

2023

Growth in the number of issued cards by 1.6 times to 287.3 million units

The number of issued Mir cards in 2023 increased 1.6 times compared to 2022 and amounted to more than 287.3 million units. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced this in its annual report, published in March 2024.

According to statistics from the Central Bank, the share of Mir cards replacing cards of international payment systems in the domestic market increased to 55% in 2023. Approximately two-thirds of all card operations in Russia (45.7 billion) in 2023 were carried out using Mir cards. In monetary terms, their share was 56%, or 87.6 trillion rubles. As part of operations with Mir cards, more than 80% of the number in 2023 was paid for goods and services.

The number of issued Mir cards in 2023 increased 1.6 times

The Mir payment system was actively used in social and transport applications. Preferential categories of citizens were able to issue a virtual social card on the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (Functions), the regulator's document says.

It also follows from the materials of the Central Bank that projects of social cards and resident cards based on the Mir payment system against 28 subjects a year earlier have been implemented in 33 Russian regions. The regulator also noted the launch of the Virtual Social Card project for users of the Public services portal, which allows preferential categories of citizens to issue a virtual social card and use it in public transport as a preferential travel pass.

The Central Bank's report also reports on the development of a loyalty program within the framework of the Mir payment system: in 2023, the number of cards registered in it doubled, it reached 138 million units.

The Bank of Russia added that in 2023 a dialogue continued with partners to expand the infrastructure for accepting Mir cards abroad and finding alternative solutions.

CBR Report 2023

Acceleration using the Axiom JDK Java platform for processing settlements using Mir cards by 2.5 times

NATIONAL PAYMENT CARD SYSTEM for a number of clearing processes in the framework of the work payment system "Mir" uses - import-independent Java technology developed and Axiom JDK supported by the Russian engineers with 25 years of development experience. OpenJDK This was announced on December 18, 2023 by representatives of the company. BellSoft

The processing of payments on cards of the Mir payment system with the support of the domestic Java platform Axiom JDK, one of the elements of the functioning of the services of the National Payment Card System, has accelerated 2.5 times. According to representatives of the NSPK, this is especially important on the eve of the New Year holidays. Daily clearing of NSPK, the operator of the Mir PS, processes more than 50 million interbank transactions on national payment cards - the same number of operations took place during the critical periods of 2021. Read more here.

Banks of Laos began to accept Mir cards

Banks in Laos have begun accepting Mir cards. Russian Ambassador to the Asian country Vladimir Kalinin told reporters about this at the end of November 2023.

According to available information, some banks already accept Mir cards, and in ATMs you can withdraw money in Lao currency in test mode, the diplomat said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

The ambassador expressed the hope that with the opening of additional flights, Russian citizens will be able to visit Laos more often, where 2024 is declared the "Year of Tourism." According to Kalinin, such a "distinctive and friendly" country as Laos is not yet well known in Russia as a potential tourist destination.

In October 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during talks with President of the Republic Thonglun Sisulit in China, said that Russia and Laos have a good level of political relations, but it must be filled with economic content. He noted that in 2022 the trade turnover of the two countries decreased, but there are "good prospects."

By the end of November 2023, as noted by RIA Novosti, Mir cards are accepted by partner banks in Abkhazia,, Armenia,, Belarus,, and Vietnam Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan South Korea South Ossetia. From March 2023, cash can be withdrawn from them at some ATMs in Cuba. The system is expected to be implemented in Myanmar by the end of 2023. Interest in connecting Mir cards is also shown by,,,,,,,, and Iran Indonesia, the Egypt Thailand India Venezuela Nicaragua Mauritius Nigeria Ethiopia agency adds.

In July 2023, Alla Bakina, director of the national payment system department of the Central Bank, said that the Bank of Russia plans to withdraw Mir cards to five to six new countries by the end of 2023.^[2]

Venezuelan Foreign Ministry: Mir payment system launched throughout the country

The Mir payment system has been launched throughout Venezuela. This was announced in mid-November 2023 by the head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Ivan Gil Pinto, at a press conference in Moscow following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Trading ports, therefore, have the opportunity to accept such payment. As for Margarita Island, there are 100% of sales points where you can pay using the Mir card, "said Pinto, whose words are quoted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

He clarified that the authorities continue cooperation between the central banks of Venezuela and Russia within the framework of the financial architecture. "We will move forward in what is called" dedollarization, "and we hope to move to payment in national currencies," Pinto said.

In the future, it is planned to increase the scope of this payment system, Sergei Lavrov added in turn. Moreover, several Venezuelan banks have already opened correspondent accounts in banks that provide Russian-Venezuelan trade.

In early October 2023, it was reported that Mir cards began to work in a significant part of Venezuela, including in the capital Caracas, and on the island of Margarita, where tourists travel.

The intentions of Russian banks to install terminals for payment with Mir cards abroad do not violate the law, the payment system operator as a whole approves the development of this practice, the head said. National Payment Card System (NSPK) Vladimir Komlev According to him, the promotion of Mir cards abroad would be easiest to carry out through agreements with foreign banks or payment organizations, but here sanctions intervene in the process. Therefore, there is interest in installing terminals, primarily in countries where Russians rest -,, and Turkey Maldives UAE other areas.^[3]

Bank terminals for payment with Mir cards began to be introduced in Turkey

By the beginning of November 2023, Russian banks began to install acquiring terminals in Turkey to pay for purchases with Mir cards. According to Ilya Romanov, head of trade acquiring at Tochka Bank, as of November 2023, no more than five Russian credit institutions are doing this. He clarified that the client is conducting an operation by analogy with how this is done in the Russian Federation. Romanov pointed out that, as a rule, terminals of Russian banks are installed in those places where there is a flow of travelers from Russia, for example, in hotels, catering, souvenir shops, shops, excursion bureaus and pharmacies.

The system works as follows: a trading enterprise in Turkey signs an agreement with a Russian bank and establishes its terminal for payment using Mir cards. The bank transfers the received money to the company's ruble account to a Turkish bank. Alexey Razumovsky, commercial director of Impaya Rus, says that Turkey does not violate any sanctions, because the local terminal is not used to conduct transactions. As a result, Russian tourists pay with their cards in the domestic terminal. Moreover, foreign "plastic" will not pass in it due to restrictions. And whether the bank of the Russian Federation is in the SDN list does not matter either. Most likely, this system will be used more and more often in other countries, the expert believes.

As the general director of the Vepay service Georgy Nikonov noted in a conversation with Izvestia, according to the corresponding scheme, Mir cards are mainly accepted due to the fact that the use of Visa and Mastercard can be considered a violation of the imposed sanctions. He added that this method of accepting payments by the beginning of November 2023 did not become too massive.

The press service of the Bank of Russia told the newspaper that the regulator supports the initiatives of market representatives, allowing Russian citizens to pay with non-cash funds abroad.^[4]

The Government of the Russian Federation approved 25 countries, tourists from which will be able to get Mir cards in their homeland

In October 2023, the Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree approving a list of countries banks that can remotely identify foreign customers to open cards and accounts with Russian credit institutions. We are talking about a tourist card of the payment system. "Mir" More. here

Launching Mir in Cuba

On October 19, 2023, it became known about the launch of the Mir payment system in Cuba. Boris Titov, Presidential Plenipotentiary for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, Chairman of the Business Council of Russia-Cuba, spoke about this.

We were informed that Cuban banks have adapted the Mir card for POS terminals. In the near future, acceptance of payments on them, including ruble, will begin, - Titov told reporters on October 19, 2023 following a visit to Cuba.

The fact that several banks in Cuba began to accept Mir cards was reported by TASS earlier in 2023. According to the agency, the emblem of the Russian payment system is displayed on the ATM scoreboard, cash withdrawal from cards of Russian banks is possible. The funds are issued in Cuban pesos. The approximate exchange rate of rubles for Cuban pesos when withdrawing cash from an ATM is 1 to 1.5, respectively, excluding the transaction fee. At the same time, the TASS correspondent in several commercial institutions was informed that after setting up the necessary equipment, such an opportunity would appear, but they did not give approximate deadlines.

In the spring of 2023, it became known that the Russian Mir card could be used to withdraw cash from ATMs in the Cuban capital. The next stage, Titov noted, is full-fledged acquiring, that is, the ability to pay for goods and services directly by card in Cuban restaurants and stores.

According to the commissioner, the Cuban authorities expect that the introduction of the Mir payment system will attract interest in this country from tourists from Russia.

By October 2023, the Mir payment system operates in some partner banks in Abkhazia,, Armenia,, Belarus,, Vietnam, and Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan South Korea South Ossetia. More than 15 countries expressed readiness to implement it.^[5]

Operation of the "World" system in Vietnam

In early August 2023, it became known about the reception of Mir cards in Vietnam. Thus, the geography of the Russian payment system has expanded.

A number of banks in Vietnam accept Mir cards. This, however, is a fairly limited network of ATMs, but it allows our tourists to use the corresponding terminals to receive cash, "said Nikolai Nozdrev, director of the third Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in an interview with RTVI.

The diplomat clarified that in another country popular with Russians, Thailand, Mir cards are accepted by one of the major supermarket chains, and expanding the use of cards in banks in Southeast Asian countries is a long-term goal of the department.

In the fall of 2022, the Vietnamese bank BIDV suspended the acceptance of cards of the Mir system along with credit institutions in Turkey and Kazakhstan. The decisions were made against the background of statements by the American authorities about the possible imposition of sanctions on those who work with Mir cards outside Russia.

By the beginning of August 2023, Mir cards are accepted in Belarus, Abkhazia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Korea and South Ossetia. In March 2023, Mir cards began to be accepted by Cuban banks, and in June 2023, Venezuelan Central Bank President Calixto Jose Ortega Sanchez announced the start of Mir's work in the country.

In early July 2023, Alla Bakina, director of the department of the national payment system of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, said that the regulator plans to withdraw cards of the Mir payment system to five to six new countries in 2023. Speaking about the fears of countries due to secondary sanctions, Bakina noted that some states are worried about the threat of restrictions and listen to sanctions, but there are those who are ready to cooperate with Russia.^[6]

Launch of the "World" system in Venezuela

Venezuela has launched the Russian payment system Mir. This was announced on June 15, 2023 by the President of the Central Bank of the Latin American country Calixto Jose Ortega Sanchez.

Ortega Sanchez said that the payment system "is already working," answering a question from the correspondent. TASS At the same time, he also stressed that it "does not matter" for Venezuela what USA countries think European Union about financial cooperation Central Bank of Venezuela CENTRAL BANK OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION with the Russian financial system.

Now almost 40 thousand terminals have been updated so that Russian Mir maps work in Venezuela, in tourist zones. The goal is that 30 percent of payment terminals can accept "plastic" produced by Russian banks, the president of the Central Bank of the republic told RIA Novosti.

The fact that the financial departments of Russia and Venezuela are discussing the possibility of using the Mir payment system in the Latin American country was announced in April 2023 following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil Pinto.

The technical services of the Bank of Venezuela and the Bank of Russia work in two areas: these are financial messages and the desire to get rid of the dollar in mutual settlements, as well as the use of the Mir card in Venezuela, the Venezuelan minister said then.

The Mir system by mid-June 2023 operates in almost 10 countries, another 15 expressed their readiness to implement it. Previously, the Mir card, in addition to Russia, could be used in 11 countries - Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and in partially recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia. However, after the US Treasury threatened sanctions for cooperation with the Russian payment system, banks in some of the listed countries, including Turkey and Kyrgyzstan, began to restrict the service of Mir cards^[7]

Virtual Social Card Launch Approval

At the end of May 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on the launch of virtual social cards. The experiment began on June 1, 2023 and will last a little over a year.

The document signed by the head of the Government of the Russian Federation introduces a mechanism that will allow beneficiaries to issue a virtual social card and use it in public transport. To create a virtual social card, you will need to link the Mir card to a smartphone in the Mir Pay payment application, send an application for a virtual social card through a special form on the Public services portal and wait for notification of its readiness. To pay for travel, you need to attach a smartphone to the terminal in transport - the system will immediately determine whether the citizen has the necessary benefit, and if confirmed, he will be provided with free travel.

As the press service of the Cabinet noted, the system of virtual cards is being introduced for the convenience of citizens. At the same time, if desired, they will be able to continue to use ordinary cards without any restrictions. The experiment will take place on a voluntary basis in interested regions.

The integration of the Mir card will expand the capabilities of State Public services users and make it more convenient to apply benefits. A virtual social card as an alternative to plastic and paper documents is a natural step forward in the provision of public services. The first region where, with the help of such a social card, having attached a smartphone to the terminal, it will be possible to confirm the right to preferential travel will be the Nizhny Novgorod region, - said the head of the Ministry of Digital Science Maksut Shadayev earlier.

According to him, in the future it is planned to scale this service throughout the country. As part of the project, a working group was created with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development and the Mir payment system.

Government of the Russian Federation Resolution of May 31, 2023 No. 884

2022

The number of operations increased 1.5 times

The volume of transactions on Mir cards in 2022 reached 29.4 billion in the amount of 52.9 trillion rubles, which is 1.5 and 1.6 times more than a year ago. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation published such statistics at the end of March 2023.

According to the regulator's materials referred to by TASS, half of all card operations in the Russian Federation in 2022 were carried out using Mir cards. In the total value of domestic transactions with cards, the share of national payment instruments amounted to 41.3%. At the same time, almost 78 out of 100 operations with Mir cards accounted for payment for goods and services. At the end of 2022, projects of social cards and resident cards based on the Mir payment system were implemented in 28 constituent entities of the Russian Federation (in 2021 - in 23 regions).

According to the Central Bank, the number of credit institutions whose customers can pay for purchases using the Mir Pay mobile contactless payment application increased from 82 to 149 over the year. It is also noted that outside of Russia, Mir cards were accepted in eight countries by the end of 2022, including the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). In terms of expanding the geography of accepting Mir cards, priority is given to countries popular with Russian citizens for tourist trips and seasonal accommodation.

In order to further develop international cooperation with foreign central (national) banks in the field of supervision and monitoring in the national payment system (NPS), an Agreement was signed with the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of supervision and monitoring of participants in the payment services market and payment systems and an Agreement with the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus in the field of oversite, the Central Bank said in a study.[8]

The release of Mir cards grew by 60%

In 2022, the number of issued cards of the Mir payment system increased by 60% compared to 2021 and reached 182 million. The number of banks connected to the Mir Pay application increased to 149, according to data from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which were released in early March 2023.

I must say that basically it was organic growth, because we have retained the processing of cards of international payment systems in the country. We specifically did this so that customers did not have a shock with the possible transition to the National Payment System, "said Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

The head of the National Payment Card System (NSPK) Vladimir Komlev said in January 2023 that Russian banks issued almost 60 million Mir cards from December 2021 to December 2022, and the total number of issued cards reached 170 million. According to Komlev, after the departure of Western payment systems Visa and MasterCard from Russia, the "gradual replacement" of their cards began. According to the results of the third quarter of 2022, the Mir payment system became the largest in terms of transaction volumes. Its share in the total volume of payments for goods and services amounted to 38.8%.

Many Russians issued Mir cards to use them abroad. However, since the fall of 2022, foreign banks began to refuse to serve them. According to the data, by the Bloomberg end of 2022, in six of the nine countries in which the Mir system worked, banks refused to support it amid the threat of sanctions from the outside. USA Agency analysts consider the current situation a "collapse" and a failure of Russia's attempt to create its own alternative to Visa and in conditions of Mastercard financial isolation.^[9]

The ability to issue a virtual card on the mos.ru

Users mos.ru have the opportunity to issue virtual a debit card of the national payment system. "Mir" It is released for free, on average it takes less than a minute. After registration, the card can be immediately used to pay for city services along with alternative payment tools presented in the "My Payments" service. More. here

Rapid growth in the number of Mir card users

All Turkish banks refused to support Mir cards under US pressure

By the end of September 2022, there were no banks using the Russian Mir payment system in Turkey.

The decision of Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS, TC Ziraat Bankasi AS and Turkiye Vakiflar Bankasi TAO to stop using Mir marks a turn in Turkey's position on sanctions against Russia, Bloomberg reported.

It is expected that the termination by Turkish banks of the use of the Mir system will be a big blow to trade, tourism and money transfers with Russia - Yenicağ.

The representative of the Turkish Rodina party, Hakan Topkurulu, said that the cessation of the use of the Russian Mir system is sabotage of the United States against the country's economy.

The Turkish government is preparing to talk about the payment system, which will work in the country as an alternative to the Mir payment system. Details on the development of a payment system, which should become an alternative to Russian Mir cards, will be announced in 1-2 days, Aydinlik reported.

The refusal of Turkish banks to use the Mir system occurs under unprecedented US pressure, they are threatened with secondary sanctions, said the press secretary of the Russian President Peskov.

Shetab Iranian Payment System Integration Plan

Confronting Western sanctions has always been a common problem between Iran and Russia, and the issue of mitigating their consequences has been on the agenda of the leaders of the two countries in recent years. This became known on September 12, 2022. Tehran and Moscow decided that the unification of banking systems would facilitate transactions between countries bypassing the international system for transferring interbank payments SWIFT.

Russia Vladimir Putin This was announced a month after the last meeting of Iranian President and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran recently announced data the latest on the development of a joint payment systems. Russian payment system "Mir" will soon be integrated with the Iranian "."Shetab

Bayman Yazdani, an expert in political economic research, called the unification of banking systems an important step to bypass Western sanctions and liberalize trade and financial relations between Tehran and Moscow.

Yazdani stressed that the unification of banking systems will positively affect the stability of the exchange rate of Iran and Russia, and will also undermine the ability of the United States to control global financial systems^[10].

Availability in the Business Portal application of Otkritie Bank

Otkritie Bank July 19, 2022 announced the addition of services "Business Portal" to - mobile and - Internetbank for entrepreneurs. Clients of the segment small and medium-sized businesses now have access to work with national business cards. payment system "Mir" More. here

The ability to design through the Qiwi wallet

From July 1, owners of QIWI Wallet can issue a virtual or physical card of the national payment system "Mir." Cards will be useful for paying for purchases in online stores and for everyday spending. They can also be connected to Mir Pay and Samsung Pay for contactless payment with a smartphone on payment terminals. QIWI announced this on July 1, 2022. Read more here.

EPGU Integration Plan

On June 16, 2022, the Ministry of Digital Development announced that Maksut Shadayev and the general director of the Mir payment system Vladimir Komlev had signed a cooperation agreement.

The document provides integration maps Public services for the possibility of "Mir" in your personal account for a simplified receipt of social support measures. Thus, benefits can be used using virtual a social card.

The integration of the Mir card will expand the capabilities of State Public services users and make it more convenient to apply benefits. A virtual social card as an alternative to plastic and paper documents is a natural step forward in the provision of public services. The first region where, with the help of such a social card, having attached a smartphone to the terminal, it will be possible to confirm the right to preferential travel will be the Nizhny Novgorod region. In the future, we plan to scale this service throughout the country. A virtual social map can be an addition to a plastic one, - said the head of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev.

To create a virtual social map, you will need to:

1. Link the Mir card to a smartphone.

2. Enter data on the map in your personal account on Public services.

3. Select the required benefits from the list (only preferential travel will be available at the pilot project stage).

4. Submit a request.

The first service that can be obtained through a virtual social card will be reduced travel in public transport. In the future, the service will extend to other social support measures.

It will be possible to get one or another measure of support on the State Services portal without leaving home. At the first stage - to issue a preferential pass. This will require a so-called token - the Mir card loaded into the smartphone through the Mir Pay service - it will be an electronic identifier. Next, in a few clicks, a travel card is issued. To use it, you just need to attach your smartphone to the terminal in transport. The system will immediately determine which benefit is connected, and either free travel or at a discount will be provided, - explained Vladimir Komlev, general director of the Mir payment system.

In the near future, within the framework of the project, a working group will be created with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development Russia payment system and Mir.

Turkish DenizBank began accepting Russian Mir cards

Turkish DenizBank from the beginning of June 2022 began to accept Russian Mir cards. It became the fourth bank in Turkey to serve these cards. They are also received by Ziraat Bankası, Vakıfbank and Iş Bankası.

Cuba and Venezuela agree to accept "Mir" cards

Cuba and Venezuela agreed to accept Mir cards, which became known in April 2022. The National Payment Card System (NSPK) said the system is technologically ready to operate in new countries.

They write about the possibility of using Mir cards in Cuba and Venezuela News"" with reference to embassies Russia in Latin American states. Thus, Juan Carlos Escalona Peliser, tourism adviser to the Cuban Embassy in Russia, said that cards with the Russian payment system can be paid in the republic in the summer of 2022. According to him, this issue has been discussed for a long time, but negotiations were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19

We hope that by the summer everything will be ready, and Russian tourists will be able to use the Mir cards in Cuba, he added.

Meanwhile, the embassy Mexico RUSSIAN FEDERATION told the newspaper that by April 8, 2022, they did not have information on whether the possibility of accepting Mir cards at the country's resorts was being studied. Mexico remains one of the favorite destinations for Russians, but Western sanctions are still preventing them from moving towards new goals, its embassy explained.

Earlier in April 2022, Alexei Egarmin, Director General of the Russian-Turkish Business Council at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the Turkish travel industry plans to expand the use of Mir cards in the near future and ensure trouble-free settlements at the country's resorts. According to him, participants in the Turkish tourist market promise to quickly implement the use of the Russian payment system.

Mir will primarily focus on the development of card acceptance infrastructure in countries where they are already accepted. Technologically, the Mir system is ready to realize such an opportunity in new countries that will show interest in this, the NSPK noted on April 8, 2022.[11]

Accepting payments through Assist in Belarus

Russian payment service Assist supports the reception of cards the payment system "Mir" in the republic. Belarus Banks and stores Belarus are required to accept Mir cards for payment from January 1, 2022 (according to the decree of the National Bank of Belarus). The company Assist (Assist) announced this on March 21, 2022. More. here

Georgian Airways' forced rejection of Mir cards due to protests

In March 2022, Georgian airline Georgian Airways began accepting Russian Mir cards to pay for tickets, but a few days later stopped "after a public protest." Protests began outside her office.

2021

Mir accounted for 32.3% of bank cards issued in Russia

According to the report of the National Payment Card System (NSPK) for 2021, according to the issue, the share of the Mir payment system amounted to 32.3% against 29% a year earlier, and by the volume of operations the indicator increased from 23% to 25%. This became known at the end of January 2022.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the concept of the development of the national payment system of the Bank of Russia, in 2024 the Mir payment system should occupy 30% in terms of the volume of operations on the Russian market.

According to Dmitry Vishnyakov, an independent expert on the payment card market, the growth of NSPK and SBP is due to a decrease in the share of cash, but in the future, three to five years, such organic growth will slow down and the question of other sources of growth in the Russian market will arise.

Denis Baryshkov, head of the department of the national payment system of the Central Bank, says that in 2021 the expansion of the geography and network for accepting Mir cards continued - by the end of 2021 they could be paid in 14 foreign countries.

As told To news"" in the largest, on banks average, national card holders spend less than customers Visa and. MasterCard The head of the bank card business of the bank "" St. Petersburg Sergei Mishanin linked the low average check with the popularity of using the national instrument to pay for travel in the metro in connection with the launched shares.

The growth in popularity of Mir cards can be explained by special promotions: cashback for flights, vouchers, discounts on public trips, transport UBRR reported. The national payment system does not lag behind the international ones: almost all modern services are available on it, including contactless and tokenized transactions, as well as the safe online payments MIR Accept service, noted in. Novikombank^[12][13]

The Central Bank ordered payment applications to introduce support for Mir cards

At the end of November 2021, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation issued a new instruction for payment application operators - they will have to provide support for Mir cards. The companies were given almost two years to do this. Read more here.

Connect maps to Google Pay

On October 18, 2012, it became known that in 8 days banks will begin connecting Mir cards to the Google Pay payment service. It is assumed that this innovation will contribute to the development of contactless operations and increase the popularity of the national payment tool, since students and young mothers, who mainly receive payments for Mir, are actively using new technologies.

The fact that credit institutions are preparing to integrate the Mir payment system with Google Pay was told to Izvestia by the Moscow Credit Bank (MKB), VTB, Promsvyazbank, Дом.рф, Renaissance Credit, Home Credit and Post Bank.

The timing of the technology connection in each bank is set individually. VTB noted that they plan to provide this service to customers one of the first. The ICD said that by mid-October 2021, work is underway to debug the technology and the financial institution plans to connect the Google Pay service for Mir cardholders by the end of 2021.

The share of spending using various Pay applications reaches 60-70% in the total volume of contactless transactions, VTB estimated. According to the bank's forecasts, the ability to pay for purchases with the Mir card through Google Pay will increase the share of payments using Pay services, as well as increase the demand for Mir digital cards. The bank "Дом.рф" expects an increase in tokenized transaction activity (using a smartphone or wearable devices) after the launch of Google Pay by at least 10%.

As Pyotr Karpov, vice president of Renaissance Credit, noted, about 70% of customers use phones with the Android operating system.

Among customers with Mir cards, their share is even higher. We expect a general further increase in tokenization and a possible overflow of customers to Google Pay from other mobile wallets, he added.[14]

Mir cards began to be accepted in the UAE

On October 5, 2021, it was announced that the UAE began accepting Mir cards to pay for purchases. The local company Network International, which calls itself the leader in the e-commerce market in the Middle East and Africa, provided its customers with an appropriate technical opportunity. Read more here.

In Belarus, banks and stores were obliged to accept Mir payment cards

Belarus banks The stores were also obliged to accept Mir payment cards. The new requirement was announced on July 23, 2021. National Bank of Belarus (NBB)

In connection with the completion of the project on the intersystem integration of the Belkart payment system and the Mir payment system for banks participating in the Belkart payment system, from January 1, 2022, a requirement is established to accept bank payment cards of the Mir payment system in all payment terminals in trade organizations (service), payment terminals at cash outlets, ATMs and newly installed self-service payment terminals, the regulator said in a statement.

In addition, from January 1, 2023, banks providing Internet acquiring services will also have to accept Mir cards. This will expand the capabilities of business entities to sell goods and services on sites in the Belarusian segment of the Internet to holders of Mir cards, according to the NBB.

On July 12, 2021, the National Payment Card System (NSPK, operator of the Mir payment system) announced the launch of cross-border transfers to the cards of the Belarusian payment system Belkart.

Alfa Bank, Russian Standard Bank, Sberbank and Tinkoff were the first among Russian banks to provide such a service to their clients. At the same time, it became known that the cards of the two largest Belarusian issuing banks Belagroprombank and Belarusbank were ready to accept transfers from Mir.

As noted by the commercial director of the NSPK Dmitry Buvin, Belarus is one of the three countries where Russians most often pay with Mir. Thanks to intersystem integration with Belkart, it will be possible to offer cardholders not only the opportunity to pay for purchases and services and withdraw cash, but also to carry out cross-border transfers by card number, he added.^[15]

Mir cards overtook Visa and MasterCard in population coverage - 42%

According to the Center for Research on Financial Technologies and Digital Economics of the Skolkovo Business School, which were released in mid-June 2021, Mir overtook Visa and MasterCard in terms of population coverage with bank cards.

The card of the national payment system "Mir" turned out to be the main one for 42% of bank card holders in Russia. For 54% of Russians, the main card is cards of international payment systems. At the same time, the researchers did not disclose how many of them use Visa, and how many - MasterCard.

Experts believe that the popularity of Mir cards was influenced, in particular, by the transfer of social benefits and all budget workers to them. Also, cards can be used for cashback programs. In addition, Mir is the only payment system operating in Crimea and Sevastopol.

Those Russians for whom the Mir card became the main one named the reasons for its receipt:

• enrollment of social benefits (84%);
• receiving a salary (40%);
• personal goals (34%).

In total, 87% of Russian citizens over 18 years old are holders of bank cards. The largest percentage of Mir cardholders as the main one is among the elderly population (67%).

As reported RBC with reference to the head of the group for the provision of services to companies financial sector Deloitte CIS in Maxim Nalyutin, many customers who have the Mir card as the main one additionally issue maps of international systems, as this can reduce risks in the event of a potential failure of one of the systems.

According to Viktor Dostov, chairman of the Association of Electronic Money and Money Transfer Market Participants, if a person already has Mir, and he needs a second and subsequent cards, then most likely he will open Visa or Mastercard, since they have more opportunities.^[16]

2020

The volume of issued cards approached the MasterCard and Visa indicators in Russia

Pensions and benefits of children will now be charged only to the Mir card

From October 1, 2020, Russians will be able to receive pensions and child benefits only on the Mir card. This was recalled at the end of September in the National Payment Card System (NSPK - operator of the Mir payment system).

Those people who use cards of other payment systems, such as Visa or Mastercard, to receive pensions and benefits, will have to transfer payments to cards of the national payment system. To do this, you need to contact the MPSC with a statement about changing bank details. After replacing the bank card, new account details must be reported to the Pension Fund.

At the same time, for those pensioners whose payments are credited to the deposit account or delivered to the post office, nothing will change from October 1, 2020, pensions will be delivered in the same way as before. The innovations will also not affect those pensioners who permanently live outside of Russia.

Only on the cards "Mir" will all payments for children from the social protection bodies of the population will be transferred - one-time benefits for, maternity payment for registration in early pregnancy, a lump sum allowance at the birth of a child, as well as all monthly payments - for childcare, allowance for children aged 3 to 7 years, monthly cash payment for the third child and subsequent children and all others.

The NSPK noted that benefits can be issued to citizens in the form of cash or by crediting funds to a bank account that is not tied to a bank card.

According to the law on the "National Payment System," the bank can approve the crediting of salaries to state employees and scholarships to students only on the Mir card. A similar rule for pensioners was supposed to come into force on July 1, 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, this process was postponed until October^[17]

Online CardPay Transaction Capability

The first pilot online transaction with Mir cards was carried out through CardPay on September 24, 2020 using the Mir Accept 2.0 protocol. The NSPK announced this on September 25, 2020. Cardpay plans to ensure the reception of Mir cards in online stores working with it on 3 continents by the end of 2020.

This collaboration will allow all Cardpay customers to receive Mir cards in online stores around the world, allowing them to offer their customers a higher level of service and explore the potential of the Russian market. It will also give Mir cardholders the opportunity to shop from millions of foreign online sellers on all 3 continents.

Cooperation with the Mir payment system will open up additional opportunities for our clients and allow us to continue to help them achieve their goal of entering the world market. We strive to provide fast, convenient and secure payments for companies around the world, and the collaboration with the Mir payment system has taken us one step closer to this goal, "commented Vitaly Merkulov, head of the Cardpay e-commerce and card operations department.

Launch of Mir card issue by Yarinterbank Bank

"ICBR" Yarinterbank"(LLC) on June 25, 2020 began to issue cards a national one. payment system "Mir" The project was implemented with technological support. This was announced processing center "KartStandard." on June 26, 2020. CFT More. here

Launch of the issue of Mir cards by RNKB bank with a contactless Microna chip

in Bank RNKB February 2020, it launched mass emission payment cards "Mir" chip module contactless payment from for domestic production Micron. After successful testing, dual chip cards began to arrive at all bank offices. This was announced Micron by "" on March 10, 2020. More. here

All benefits will be transferred to cards of the Mir payment system

All benefits from January 30, 2020 will be transferred to the Mir card payment system. This became known on January 31, 2020, according to the NSPK.

From January 30, 2020, in order for citizens to receive various benefits from the budget to payment card accounts, credit organizations will have to issue Mir payment cards for their clients. This requirement concerns the receipt by citizens of state social assistance and benefits, including benefits for transport services. For citizens who are provided with benefits for travel in public transport, transport cards based on bank cards will also be issued on the national payment instrument - the Mir card, the NSPK added. At the same time, the requirements do not apply to non-bank transport cards, for example, Troika and Podorozhnik, the NSPK reported.

However, beneficiaries receiving payments to cards of international payment systems will continue to transfer assistance until the end of their validity period^[18] of^[19].

2019

The volume of transactions on Mir cards in 2019 increased by 60%

The volume of transactions on Mir cards in  2019 increased by more than 60% compared to 2018 and reached 17.5 trillion rubles. The number of operations increased 1.7 times, to 9.2 trillion, according to the annual report of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

By the end of 2019, 298 credit institutions were participants in the Mir payment system, of which 288 received national payment instruments in their infrastructure, 158 - their issue. The number of issued Mir cards over the year increased 1.4 times and amounted to 73 million pieces, or 25.2% of the all-Russian issue of payment cards. In 2018, the indicators were 53 million and 19.2%, respectively.

It also follows from the report of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation that the share of domestic operations on Mir cards in the total volume of transactions with payment cards increased from 14.5% in 2018 to 19.3% in 2019.  In terms of number, transactions with Mir cards were dominated by transactions for payment of goods and services (73.6%), and their value amounted to 26.1%. Compared  to 2018, the number and volume of such operations increased 1.8  and 1.7 times, respectively.

The regulator also noted the continued development of loyalty programs (cashback service) of the Mir payment system. As of January 1, 2020 , 12.2 million cards were registered in this program against 4.5 million a year earlier.

In 2019, projects were carried out to place non-financial services on the Mir map  in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Primorsky Territory, the republics of Mordovia and Bashkortostan. Also implemented fare payment on the Mir card on ground transport, in the  metro - in seven cities. In 69 regions of the Russian Federation, a service has been launched for direct payments from the  Social Insurance Fund to Mir cards to insured persons. In addition, in 2019, pensioners were transferred to Mir cards^[20]

The number of interbank transactions on Mir cards exceeded 2 billion

On January 14, 2020, it became known that in 2019, residents of Russia performed over 2 billion interbank operations on Mir cards. Compared to 2018, this number increased by 64%.

As reported, most often Russians paid with Mir cards in supermarkets, about half of all operations were performed in them - about 1 billion. The second place was taken by cafes and restaurants (about 8% of the total), and the third - gas stations (about 6% of the total). This year, urban transport also entered the top 5 in terms of the number of operations - the number of fares paid by Mir cards increased more than 5 times.

The average check of transactions on Mir cards amounted to 703 rubles. At the same time, on average in 2019, Russians spent 568 rubles in pharmacies, 2,006 rubles in clothing stores, 1,186 rubles for cosmetics, 157 rubles for taxis, 4,204 rubles for hotel accommodation, 2,830 rubles for railway tickets.

In January 2020, Russians spend quite a lot on travel - the top 3 categories with the highest average check traditionally included air tickets, on average, Russians spent 11,248 rubles on them per year (10,835 rubles in 2018), as well as travel agencies (10,811 rubles in 2019, 9,780 rubles in 2018), cruises and ferries (RUB 4,391 in 2019, RUB 9,119 in 2018).

The subjects of the federation, where national payment cards are most often used, included Moscow (452 million operations), Moscow region (148 million operations), St. Petersburg (130 million operations), Sverdlovsk region (86 million operations) and Krasnodar Territory (67 million operations). Compared to 2018, the five leaders have not changed, but the gap with the leading regions is narrowing: 64 million operations were carried out in the Novosibirsk region, which is almost twice as much as in 2018, 58.5 million in the Republic of Bashkortostan, an increase compared to 2018 amounted to 72%. As of December 1, 2019, 71.5 million Mir cards were issued^[21]

Pilot batch of Mir cards with Micron chip

On January 9, 2020 Micron , he announced that Post Bank he was the first on the market to issue a batch of PS cards "Mir" with a chip for contactless payment Russian of production. More. here

The number of cards of the Russian payment system "Mir" exceeded 70 million

On December 11, 2019, the National Payment Card System (NSPK) announced that the level of recognition of the Mir brand reached 90%. As of November 1, the official indicator of the number of cards of the Russian payment system amounted to 69.7 million units. According to preliminary estimates, as of December 1, this figure has grown and is already more than 70 million cards. This was announced by Vladimir Komlev, Director General of the National Payment Card System (NSPK).

According to him, the share of the issue of Mir cards in Russia in the 3rd quarter of 2019 amounted to 22.5%, and the volume of payments on them - 17.7%. The market share of national payment system cards is expected to reach 23-24%. However, each next percentage is more difficult, the top manager admitted.

He also noted that from January to November 30, 2019, the volume of interbank operations reached 12.6 billion and continues to increase. On average, NSPK processes 37.9 million such transactions per day. The record for the number of interbank transactions processed per day (54 million) fell on Black Friday, November 29.

Vladimir Komlev also told how the payment preferences of Russians have changed over the past 2 years. If in 2017 four out of five payments were made using contact cards, 16% were contactless and 3% were tokens, then in 2019 the picture changed a lot: 53% were contactless transactions, 28% - contact and 19% - tokens.^[22]

The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media wants to divide "World" with the Ministry of Internal Affairs

The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation proposes to transfer the authority to coordinate the interaction and activities of federal executive bodies and organizations within the framework of the state system of migration and registration accounting, as well as the manufacture, execution and control of the circulation of identity documents (Mir system), and the authority to ensure their information and telecommunication interaction in this system to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation "On Amendments to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 6, 2015 No. 813" is posted on the official website of draft regulatory legal acts. The document approves amendments to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation "On Approval of the Regulation on the State System of Migration and Registration Accounting, as well as the manufacture, execution and control of circulation of identity documents."

The amendments relate to paragraphs "a" and "b" of paragraph 10 of this Resolution. These items are proposed to be amended as follows: "a) The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation coordinates the interaction and activities of federal executive bodies and organizations within the Mir system, provides information and telecommunication interaction within the Mir system, and also performs the functions of the operator of its departmental segment; b) The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation forms and ensures the implementation of a unified technical policy, as well as performs the functions of the operator of its departmental segment. "

The Government Decree, providing for these changes, as indicated in the explanatory note, was developed by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications in accordance with the instructions of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, given in September 2019, which will agree on amendments to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation "On Approval of the Regulation on the State System of Migration and Registration Records, as well as the Production, Execution and Control of Circulation of Identity Documents" in terms of transferring powers to ensure the interaction of departmental segments of the Mir system from the Ministry of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The explanatory note also indicates that the federal law "On the federal budget for 2019 and for the planning period 2020 and 2021" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs allocates additional funding to ensure information and telecommunication interaction of all departmental segments of the Mir system in the amount of 1 billion rubles annually the Ministry of Telecom and Mass ^[23].

Mir plans to launch payment for purchases using biometrics

On April 26, 2019, it became known that the Mir payment system plans to implement a project to pay for purchases using facial biometrics. Such payments will not require cash and cards. 

The Mir system is working on such a payment method, one of the sources said. NSPK (operator of the Mir payment system) is really discussing the possibility of using facial biometrics to pay for purchases, the second source confirmed, noting that this topic, in particular, was raised at a meeting of one of the working groups with the participation of the Central Bank and banks. There have been no working groups with the participation of representatives of the payment market and equipment manufacturers, he says, their holding is possible in the future.

One of the issues discussed is the addition of another identifier to the face biometrics data to secure payments. Such identifiers can be facial expressions or voices.

The framework model of payments using face biometrics "Mir" can be presented in the summer of 2019. But the timing of the real launch of the project has not yet been determined^[24].

14% of payments on the Russian market are made using 53 million Mir cards

On January 21, 2019, it became known that the issue of Mir cards reached 53 million cards, and the share of payments on the market RUSSIAN FEDERATION - 14%, the head said. Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina

In the previous three years, we as a whole completed work on the formation of the national infrastructure of the financial market, developed the Mir payment card. In January 2019, about 53 million cards were issued and 14% of payments on the Russian market are made using the Mir card.

The reason for the creation of the National Payment Card System was the decision Visa of Mastercard to suspend the operations of customers in March 2014 of Bank Russia"," SMP-Bank and their subsidiaries due to sanctions USA^[25] of^[26]

2018

Subsidies for chips for Mir cards

As it discovered in April 2019, CNews the Zelenograd plant "" Micron during 2018 received from Ministry of Industry and Trade 208.3 million rubles. in order to compensate for the cost of producing chips for the national payment card system () NATIONAL PAYMENT CARD SYSTEM "" - World under the agreement dated October 25, 2017. The money was used for the specified purposes as a subsidy (not to be confused with standard contracting based on the results) state procurements ^[27] for^[28]

This subsidy is regulated by the rules approved by Decree of the Government of Russia No. 1450 of December 23, 2016. The document implied "compensation for losses in income" incurred by companies due to the release of microcircuits in 2016-2019. " As CNews was told in Micron, the company already in 2017 produced and delivered more than 2 million chip modules for Mir cards. However, as can be seen from the documents, the first money came to her accounts only in 2018.

During that year, the company produced more than 3 million chips. "In 2019, it is planned to further increase the volume of supplies," the CNews interlocutors noted, but they did not predict the amount of compensation money.

Mir cards are now accepted at VTB cash desks and ATMs (Kazakhstan)

On December 7, 2018, VTB Bank (Kazakhstan) announced the launch of a project to accept and service cards of the Mir payment system. Now holders of Mir cards will be able to find out the balance and receive cash at any ATM or bank cash desk.

The service can be used by the owners of Mir cards of any Russian bank. Cash is issued at ATMs of VTB (Kazakhstan) in tenge. Charging takes place according to the internal tariffs of the credit institution that issued the card.

The service implemented with the support of the National Payment Card System will increase the financial comfort of customers of Russian banks staying in Kazakhstan. As of December 2018, the VTB Bank (Kazakhstan) network has 85 ATMs and 40 cash outlets located in all regions of the country.

The Mir payment system is popular in Russia, it is important for us to provide customers with comfort and convenience in service on our territory. For 8 months of 2018, the trade turnover of Kazakhstan and Russia exceeded $11 billion, by the end of 2018 it could reach $18 billion - this is a huge economic potential. 'Dmitry Zabello, Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank (Kazakhstan) '

In Russia, more than 320 banks are participants in the Mir payment system. VTB Group began issuing national maps in the fourth quarter of 2016. Since the start of VTB's issue, more than 9.2 million cards have already been issued.

The largest issuers of Mir cards. Table

Mir card will become an identifier of access to state services

The functionality of the Mir card will be expanded. It is assumed that from 2020, Russians will be able to receive public services not only using a passport, but also using a national card, a source close to the Central Bank told Izvestia on June 6, 2018. As specified in the operator of the Mir system of the NSPK, the payment instrument will become an identifier, that is, detailed information about a particular person will not be posted on the map itself.

According to experts, the introduction of non-payment functionality will increase popularity and speed up the distribution of national maps.

More than 70% of the total issue of Mir cards Post Bank - cards independently issued by customers, without reference to salary projects or receiving a pension, - said Grigory Babadzhanyan, Vice President, Director for Retail Business Development of Post Bank. - Therefore, we can safely say that the interest of citizens in the cards of the Russian payment system is growing. In general, any additional functionality that will increase convenience and expand the space for using the card will increase its attractiveness.

Grigory Babajanyan also stressed that the personal information of Mir cardholders should be properly protected. Tamara Kasyanova, managing partner of the 2K audit company, agreed with him:

A person can lose a card, and it will go to a third party, or the card can be stolen. It remains to be decided how these risks will be mitigated.

According to the vice-president of the bank TKB Igor Antonov, the functionality of the Mir card as an identifier will probably expand over time.

For example, they implement functions for integration with other departments: the tax inspectorate,, and Pension fund TRAFFIC POLICE Ministry of Health so that the account or card number is a single identifier in any of these systems, - explained Igor Antonov. - The inconvenience is that in each department you need to register separately, create your own logins and passwords. On some sites, account login is possible, portal of Public services but the Mir card has nothing to do with any of these systems, does not simplify access to them. So far, the ability to link a card as a means of payment has been implemented on Public services and in the traffic police.

According to the law, pensioners and employees of budgetary institutions from July 1, 2018 must be transferred to Mir cards. In 2017, the growth in the number of users of these cards, according to the NSPK, amounted to 63%: as of June 2018, the population has more than 31 million in its hands (10% of the number of all cards in the country). At the same time, non-cash transactions on Mir cards already account for 80% of all transactions made on them.^[29]

Assist: the share of online card payments The world does not yet exceed 1%

In 2017 , the number of payments made with the Mir card was actively growing, but their share in the total has not yet exceeded 1%. These are the data  of the Assist study. The Assist group of companies analyzed the statistics of online bank card payments for 2017. Data on more than 30 million online payments made by Russian buyers in various online stores and services - Assist customers were used.

In 2017, the number of payments made on the Mir card was actively growing, however, their share in the total has not yet exceeded 1%. In monetary terms, the share of online payments on Mir cards last year amounted to 0.6%, and in quantitative terms - 0.5%. Compared to 2016, these indicators increased 60 and 125 times, respectively.

Also, less than one percent in total are payments on cards of payment systems American Express, Diners Club and JCB.

• In 2017, the share of online payments on cards of the Visa payment system decreased by 1% (both in rubles and in the number of transactions), amounting to 57% in monetary and 59% in quantitative terms of the total volume.
• The share of MasterCard in rubles remained unchanged for the year (42%), and in terms of the number of transactions increased by 1% (41% in 2017).

The Ministry of Finance will force to accept Mir cards not only online trading, but also all companies in general

Ministry of Finance proposed at the beginning of the year adjustments to the bill, which will oblige all sellers on the Internet to accept national payment cards for payment. "Mir" The ministry believes that in this version the bill will not be effective, since trade through, Internet according to Rosstat for 2016, is only 1.1% of retail trade in, Russia if we talk about turnover. That is, the reception of Mir for payment by online sellers will not lead to the widespread use of these cards^[30]

Therefore, the Ministry of Finance proposes "to consolidate the obligation to accept national payment instruments for all economic entities that accept payment cards when selling goods (works, services)," quotes the conclusion of the Interfax ministry, which had at its disposal a copy of the document. The Ministry of Finance believes that this will contribute to the spread of national payment cards without additional burden on regulatory authorities and costs from selling companies.

In addition, the ministry proposes to increase the period for the entry into force of the new rules to 180 days from the date of signing the law and specify their territorial application. The conclusion of the Ministry of Finance on the bill has already been sent for approval to the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Justice, Rospotrebnadzor, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and the Central Bank.

Cards World issued to 86% of public sector employees

The transfer of public sector employees to the cards of the national payment system "Mir" is taking place at an accelerated pace. Currently, 86% of state employees receive salaries on Mir cards. This was stated in February 2018 by the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank Olga Skorobogatova during a meeting of bank leaders "Regulation of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of the activities of commercial banks," TASS reports.

Olga Skorobogatova noted that the transfer of state employees to Mir cards is taking place at an accelerated pace, since 86% of employees of budgetary organizations already have cards of the national payment system five months before the end of the transition period.

The transfer of state employees to Mir cards began in July 2017 and should be completed on July 1, 2018. For pensioners, the transition period will last until July 2020.

2017

26 million cards

By November 2017, banks participating in the Mir payment system issued more than 26 million cards, which is approximately 10% of the Russian market. At the same time, 10 million Mir cards were received by public sector workers. From all state employees who receive wages today in a non-cash manner, this is about 45 ^[31]

In 2018, NSPK expects to bring the volume of Mir cards issued to 54 million units, doubling today's figures. At the same time, Mr. Komlev clarified that the number of active bank cards today is 19-20 percent.

In general, in terms of transaction turnover, NSPK occupies 6 percent of the Russian market, but in terms of the number of transactions to an active card, NSPK overtakes Visa and Mastercard systems . At the same time, more than 80 percent of transactions are made by non-cash settlement operations, and only about 20 percent of transactions are withdrawal of money from ATMs.

The turnover on the Mir cards is also very impressive. According to Mr. Komlev, in October, more than 80 million transactions were made in the Mir payment system. Alla Bakina, Director of the Department of the National Payment System of the Bank of Russia, cited similar figures a month ago. According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the average number of transactions in October amounted to 2.2 million operations per day with an average volume of operations per day of 2.9 billion rubles.

Thus, payment cards as such have long become a familiar settlement tool for most Russians. As for the Mir cards themselves, Komlev Vladimir outlined the immediate plans of the institution he heads: "Our task now is not to slow down the pace of production, but on the other hand, to work on the quality of the activation level of these cards and the activity of activated cards."

One of the areas of work will be the large-scale release of Mir maps equipped with a protected microchip of domestic production. Moreover, a completely Russian not only microcircuit, but also software for it, which guarantees the user the absence of "hidden" (undeclared) functionality. The microcircuit for Mir cards was developed at Micron by order of the Bank of Russia.

Of the 26 million Mir cards issued, only 1 million cards are equipped with microchips. However, already in 2018, 5 million such cards may be issued. Of these, 4 million cards will be issued by the partner of NSPK Post Bank. Moreover, the first batch of 400 thousand pieces is already distributed in the offices of the bank. In total, the capacities of Micron allow the production of 13-15 million microchips per year.

Users' interest in Mir maps is dictated not only by patriotism, but also by their additional capabilities. One of them is a loyalty program, under which cashback reaches 20 percent. Now the program is supported by over 50 banks, and discounts can be obtained in a large network of gas stations, fast food chains and a number of trade and service enterprises. In the coming months, about 100 more large companies from various industries will join the program. So far, the program works only in the Moscow region, but in 2018 it will unfold throughout the country.

NSPK is interested in the future discounts on Mir cards can also be obtained when paying for housing and communal services and tickets. This fits into the intentions of the NSPK to turn Mir into a universal transport card that can pay for all types of transport throughout Russia. In this capacity, Mir cards can already be used in St. Petersburg, Samara and Novosibirsk. NSPK also plans to develop the production of student cards and social cards with various functionality.

Another important area of ​ ​ development is the release of Mir cards in the cobbing version. A number of banks issued 600 thousand similar cards together with MasterCard, Japanese JCB and Chinese UnionPay. NSPK is also negotiating the expansion of the Mir card receiving network in those countries where Russians traditionally come to rest or in which quite a few Russians live.

Whether the plans of the NSPK will be implemented is still difficult to say, since the Mir payment system is still in its infancy. However, the company's management has chosen the right development vector aimed at making the Mir card as accessible, convenient and functional as possible. All payment systems, in principle, work the same, so the competitiveness of Mir will depend on how successful the loyalty program will be and, most importantly, how cheaper the Mir system will be against the background of other payment systems.

Issue of 2 million cards with the Micron chip

On November 20, 2017, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Post Bank and the National Payment Card System, providing for the release of the largest batch of Mir cards on the market with the Russian microchip MIK51BC16D manufactured by Micron.

The first batch of Mir cards with a Russian microchip of 400 thousand units has already been sent to the regions of the bank's presence. The cards are delivered by the shareholder of Post Bank - Russian Post. It is planned that by the end of the first half of 2018, the bank will issue 2 million World cards with a Russian chip, which will allow it to become a key issuer of such cards on the market. In total, in 2018, Post Bank plans to issue more than 4 million Mir cards and increase their issue by more than three times compared to 2017. Read more here.

Medvedev announced plans to integrate payment systems Mir and UnionPay

Russia China is considering the integration of the Russian payment system "Mir" with Chinese payment instruments. This was stated by the Prime Russia Dmitry Medvedev Minister during a joint press conference with Prime Minister of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang following the results of Russian-Chinese negotiations, according to reports in October 2017. RIA Novosti Moscow Beijing The head of the Russian Cabinet clarified that they agree on the use of national currencies ruble and yuan in mutual settlements.

Issue of cards "Mir" exceeded 23 million pieces

In October 2017, Alla Bakina, director of the department of the national payment system of the Bank of Russia, announced this at a press conference (according to TASS).

In October, the average number of transactions on Mir cards amounted to 2.2 million transactions per day, and their average volume was 2.9 billion rubles. per day. She also said that about 10 million public sector workers switched to servicing with Mir cards.

"We really have quite a good pace of transfer of state employees, we interact with federal executive bodies and with regional representatives, at the beginning of October 9.9 million public sector clients have already been transferred, this is about 45% of state employees who receive payment in a non-cash manner at present," she said.

NSPK has developed a loyalty program for Mir cardholders

From mid-October, cardholders "Mir" will be able to receive cashback and miles "" within the framework Aeroflot of the new loyalty programs National Payment Card System (NSPK). SMP Bank will be the first operator of the program. It will be followed by other major financial institutions.

The SMP Bank clarified that cashback of up to 15% of the transaction amount and up to 1.75 miles from one operation (plus welcome 3 thousand miles when issuing a premium "plastic") will be charged to national cards under the new loyalty program. By the end of the year, SMP-Bank plans to issue several thousand national cards with cashback and accumulation of miles.

The innovation is designed to increase the popularity of Mir cards and increase non-cash turnover in general.

Sberbank has begun to issue contactless cards "Mir"

September 22, 2017 Sberbank announced the beginning of the issue of contactless cards, "Mir" which allow you to pay for purchases in one touch.

The active phase of the introduction of contactless technology in Sberbank began in May 2017, when the bank transferred most of the cards of its product line to "contact-free." At the moment, the volume of contactless debit and credit cards Visa and Mastercard of Sberbank is 15 million pieces, which is 11% of the total portfolio of cards issued by the bank. Earlier, the bank began an active modernization of its POS-terminal network for a new technology, thanks to which it is already possible to pay for a one-touch purchase of more than 900 thousand. Sberbank POS terminals (more than 80% of the fleet) located in retail outlets throughout the country. As of September 22, 2017, all major federal and regional retail chains support this technology.

The bank's immediate plans are to provide 100% coverage and enable cardholders to pay for purchases in one touch at any trade and service point that is serviced by Sberbank.

"Contact-free" is really fast, safe and convenient: people who pay with "one touch" spend 2 times less time on payment than when using a contact card, and 3-4 times more than when paying in cash. Often customers come to us for new cards who see how quickly other people pay with this technology. As a result, more than half of contactless card holders regularly use them to pay. We are glad that now the technology has become available to millions of people who use Mir cards, "said Svetlana Kirsanova, director of the Transaction Business division of Sberbank .

According to the bank as of September 2017, the number of issued Mir cards is 11 million. In the spring of 2017, Sberbank transferred the issue of all classic debit cards to contactless technology. By the end of 2017, all new Sberbank cards, except for instant cards and electronic ones (Visa Electron, Maestro, Maestro Social), will become contactless.

Putin approved the transfer of state employees to Mir cards

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on the gradual transfer of state employees to the Mir payment system, which the State Duma adopted on April 21 in the third final reading. Earlier, banks sent a letter to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, in which they expressed claims to the mandatory transfer of all payments from the budget and extra-budgetary state funds for service exclusively through the cards of the Mir payment system. Naturally, the meaning of the letter was not to cancel this decision, but to get the most favorable conditions for yourself when joining the service of Mir cards. Let's see how they succeeded.

Initially, it was assumed that banks would have to provide acceptance of Mir cards on their network by April 1, 2017 and provide these cards to their state-owned clients by January 1, 2018. The adopted law obliges banks to ensure the reception of Mir cards in all branches and ATMs until July 1, 2017. From the same date, banks will issue Mir cards to state employees applying for a new account. Already serviced state clients will receive Mir cards until July 1, 2018, and pensioners - until July 1, 2020 (gradually replacing those they use today). That is, compared to the original version of the law, the first term was shifted by three months, and the second - by six months.

At the same time, the law retains the ability to receive budget payments in cash or to bank accounts that are not linked to cards. However, the government still has the right to establish a list of payments that will be transferred to the Mir card without fail.

Trading enterprises with an annual turnover of 40 million rubles should start accepting Mir cards from October 1, 2017. Thus, banks have six months to reconfigure payment terminals in retail outlets.

Among other things, the law signed by the president changed the composition of the participants in the national payment system - now foreign banks, including central, as well as international financial organizations, are included in these. In the future, Vnesheconombank is planned to be added to this list. These measures should contribute to the expansion of the Mir card service area, as well as make it possible to release them abroad.

Transfer of Data Center to Open Source and Domestic Equipment

In May 2017, the Voskhod Research Institute transferred the interdepartmental redundant data processing center of the Mir system to the free software and equipment of domestic companies, including 130 servers of the Elbrus architecture. Mir combines the state system for the manufacture, registration and control of new generation passport and visa documents and the state information system of migration registration. Using the new platform, over 2 million biometric foreign passports were issued, budget savings amounted to about 30%.

Voskhod also modernized the Mir GS interface component with a unified system of interdepartmental electronic interaction (SMEV) in terms of issuing electronic visas to citizens of 18 foreign countries wishing to visit the Far East. Voskhod ensures the interaction of the systems of all departments participating in the process of issuing electronic visas - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia, the FSB of Russia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Currently, 10,600 foreign citizens have received e-visas.

Banks issued more than 5 million Mir cards

The number of cards issued by Russian banks of the Mir national payment system exceeded 5 million (data as of April 2017). More than 70 banks issue the card and accept over 95% of terminals and ATMs with cash withdrawal function. And the geography of the Mir card receiving network covers the whole country - you can withdraw cash, pay for goods and services now in any city in Russia.

To implement federal projects of direct budget payments to citizens' accounts, a technological platform has been developed in the Mir payment system, which will allow payments from the Treasury to the recipient's account almost online. Also, non-financial services are being developed on the basis of the map, which will allow integrating transport, social, campus and other applications into plastic. In the fall of 2017, an interbank loyalty program will be launched, which is based on the cash-back principle - the return of part of the funds spent on goods and services. The size of cash-back will be 10-20% and will be available to all Mir cardholders ^[32]].

The State Duma approved the transfer of state employees to Mir cards

State Duma deputies approved^[33]" in the first reading of the bill on the mandatory transfer of all budget and social payments to cards of the national payment system "Mir" since 2018^[34]

"In order to ensure for individual clients the possibility of receiving cash payments to bank accounts to which payment cards are not issued, it is proposed to provide that after January 1, 2018, all types of cash payments transferred to bank accounts of individual clients are credited by credit institutions to the bank accounts of these clients," the explanatory note to the bill says.

The amendments also provide that foreign banks and international financial organizations will be among the participants in the system.

2016

Russian banks will issue about 40 million national Mir cards in 2017

Russian banks plans to issue about 40 million national maps in 2017. "Mir" This indicator is the necessary minimum that banks must issue to customers, Alma Sheets Obaeva, chairman of the NP National Payments Council, said in the newspaper "."

In addition, the manufacturer of plastic for national cards "Alioth" intends to make about 15 million cards. In turn, Novakard, which issued 2 million cards in 2016, expects a 10-fold increase in production.

The growth in demand for "Mir" is associated with the law, according to which funds from the budget should come only to accounts to which the card is tied. At the same time, from 2018, operations on other cards on such accounts will be impossible. In 2017, about 14 trillion rubles will go from the budget to citizens' accounts.

A single payment space for the CIS countries will be formed on the basis of the Mir card

The resolution on the creation of a common financial zone was signed in Yerevan in November 2016 by the countries of the Commonwealth. A single payment space for the CIS countries will be formed on the basis of the Mir card. This decision was signed in Yerevan in early November 2016. The publication "Vedomosti" became aware of the principles of organizing the payment space.

Citizens of the CIS countries use international payment cards when calculating, despite the fact that each country has its own national ones. Based on the current situation, the National Payment Card System of Russia (NSPK) has a desire to "close" this circle to a level lower, creating a single payment space based on the intersystem integration of national payment cards. At the same time, national payment systems will remain independent: ArCa - in Armenia, Belkart - in Belarus, Elkart - in Kyrgyzstan.

Vladimir Komlev, General Director, Chairman of the Board of the NSPK spoke about the plans: "We decided to register national cards as our own: that is, for Russian banks, cards, for example, ArCa will be perceived as Mir cards, and in Armenia, Mir cards will be perceived as ArCa. Maps of local systems are accepted within their country everywhere, and they all work on the same standards. It is important that when these cards are included in the receiving network of a particular country, seven more logos are not pasted on the ATM in addition to those available, and the client has not searched for a long time whether his card is accepted. We decided that the word "Mir," written in Latin letters, could become a unifying logo and that it can be placed on devices in other countries, while in Russia it is very difficult to place stickers of national systems of other countries for 1.6 million terminals and 200,000 ATMs due to the scale. With Armenia, the project should be implemented at all ATMs and parts of POS terminals by July 2017. "

Despite the fact that the level of protection of Mir payment cards meets international standards, experts at the Central Bank are convinced that at first problems may arise due to systems that complement the card. Cyber ​ ​ attacks are predicted specifically on remote banking systems, reading information about the payment card. But, as noted by the head of the Main Directorate for Security and Information Protection of the Bank of Russia Artem Sychev, "cyber threats when using a domestic card can be avoided if you comply with standard security rules (do not write a pin code on a card, do not inform unauthorized confidential information, including CVV code)."

NSPK of Russia invested colossal funds in the development of payment applications, cores for the project terminal. There is also interest in these technologies from the CIS countries. As Komlev notes, NSPK is ready to provide access on reasonable terms so that when switching to a chip, partners from the CIS countries will not be dependent on international payment systems or international vendors. And in the future plans of the project - the release of maps on NSPK technologies, but under local brands.

Mir has begun testing 3D-Secure 2.0

The national payment card system was the first in the world to begin testing a smart transaction verification system in November. Its main difference from the first version is that the decision to confirm the monetary transaction will be made on the basis of comprehensive information about the device from which the payment is made.

The operator of the Russian payment system "Mir" NSPK has begun testing 3D-Secure 2.0 technology, which brings the use of Internet and mobile applications to a new level. NSPK also became the world's first payment system that adapted its standards for 3D-Secure ^[35]

No more than ten Russian banks will take part in the testing. According to experts, the use of 3D-Secure 2.0 on an industrial scale will begin no earlier than 2018. See 3D-Secure for more details.

UCS connected thousands of outlets to accept the Mir card

Processing company UCS has connected thousands of outlets and service enterprises throughout Russia, which are part of federal and regional networks, to receiving Mir cards.

The expansion of the Mir card receiving network in more than 32 thousand devices in trade and service enterprises in 500 cities and settlements throughout Russia was made possible thanks to cooperation with the processing company UCS (United Credit Card Company JSC).

According to UCS, transactions on Mir cards are carried out both To Moscow in and in St. Petersburg large Russian cities Krasnodar Novorossiysk Rostov-on-Don Nizhny Novgorod To Vologda-,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and Orsk Omsk Tyumen Smolensk Chelyabinsk Vladivostok others. Nizhnevartovsk Kemerovo Novosibirsk Arkhangelsk

Million Mir cards released

Vladimir Komlev, General Director of NSPK JSC, spoke in October 2016 about the development status of the national payment system, "Mir" which 146 credit institutions have already joined today. The number of issued Mir cards has already exceeded 1 million.

The ATM network of banks participating in the Mir payment system throughout the country is ready to accept national cards. The Russian payment card is rapidly gaining popularity among users - in September of this year, over a million transactions were carried out on Mir cards. The most popular transactions on Mir cards: cash withdrawals from ATMs (42%), payment for purchases in grocery stores (42%), as well as payment in restaurants and cafes (3%).

More than 600 thousand Mir cards were issued

As of September 2016, more than 600 thousand Mir cards were issued (including in Crimea and Sevastopol). Purchases account for approximately 54% of Mir card transactions, and cash withdrawals account for 41% of all transactions. Acquiring networks of Russian banks are 50% ready to accept Mir cards. By the end of 2016, this figure will increase to about 85%, and up to 100% it will be brought to the end of the first quarter of 2017^[36]

Mir cards will become mandatory for use by state employees

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation in the fall of 2016 developed a bill stating that operations on state employees' accounts from 2018 will be possible only on cards of the national payment system.

Bank of Russia decided to set banks a deadline for when they will have to issue a national card to state employees, "Mir" reports today. " Sheets According to the bill, by January 1, 2018 banks , they will be required to provide Mir cards to customers who receive funds from the budget and extra-budgetary state funds - pension, social insurance, compulsory health insurance, etc.

The pilot of the loyalty program for Mir cards with cash-back 15%

In June 2016, it became known about the plans of the National Payment Card System (NSPK) to launch a pilot project of the Mir payment system loyalty program^[37]

The company plans to launch a pilot project of the loyalty program of the Mir payment system with several banks SMP Bank(,,) and Sviaz-Bank SDM-bank trading enterprises. Within two months, employees of NSPK and organizations participating in the project will test the operability of the system support of the loyalty program. The program is based only on cash-back, the average size of which in pilot promotions is 10-15%.

Within the framework of the project, the main work is carried out by the NSPK. The system forms a partner network, negotiates discounts and determines the technical parameters of settlements. NSPK is the initiator and organizer of the loyalty program, and participating banks will be able to use the ready-made solution. On cards of international payment systems, each credit institution implemented programs with discounts, cash-back and bonuses independently, created its own partner network. Of course, the approach proposed by the NSPK will allow you to quickly "fill out" the payment card and make it more attractive to customers. Elena Bindusova, Director of the Payment Systems Department of SMP-Bank

The task of the bank, as a participant in the pilot project, is to check the correctness of the formation and processing of the clearing system transaction file, which allows you to calculate a discount at partner outlets and determine how it is reflected in the account.

2015: Mir cards will receive chips of Russian and foreign production

On October 13, 2015, it became known that "Mir" both Russian and foreign manufacturers will produce chips for cards of the national payment system. The exit of the competitor Visa MasterCard will take place at the end of the year.

As Izvestia writes with reference to the representative of Micron Alexei Dianov, the Central Bank and the  National Payment Card System refused the company to exclusively supply microcircuits for Mir cards.

According to Dianov, the state should fully ensure the security and independence of the Russian financial sector. One of the conditions for this, Micron considers the establishment of priority in the use of Russian bank chips for cards of the national payment system.

As noted by Alexey Dianov, Micron has already certified its chip according to the international EMV standard, so it can find application not only in Russian payment systems, but also international ones.

Micron estimates its ability to issue bank chips at 10 million units per month. They can be used both for the production of cards on the company's own line, and for sale to other manufacturers of bank cards. The estimated cost of a card with a Microna chip is 100-200 rubles.

The pilot release of the first Mir cards is expected in October 2015, and mass deliveries in December. The authors of the project hope that it will be able to compete in the market with cards of international Visa and MasterCard systems. The issue and acceptance of Mir cards is planned to be made mandatory for all major Russian acquiring banks. By October 2015, 30 banks of the Russian Federation are participating in the project.^[38]

2014: Creation of the National Payment Card System (NSPK)

Main article: National Payment Card System (NSPK)

The creation of the NSPK was a response to problems with the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard, which arose from several Russian banks. In March 2014, immediately after the reunification of Russia and Crimea, the US government imposed sanctions on a number of Russian politicians and businessmen. Among them was Yuri Kovalchuk, together with the Bank of Russia he created, as well as brothers Boris and Arkady Rotenberg.

Immediately after that, Visa and Mastercard payment systems Visa and MasterCard, without warning, stopped conducting transactions on the cards of several Russian banks for several days, including Yuri Kovalchuk's Rossiya Bank and the Rotenberg Brothers' NSR Bank. It was possible to withdraw cash from cards only in offices and ATMs of the same banks.

2013: Amendments to the Electronic Payments Act

From January 2014, certain norms of Article 9 FZ-161 1 "On the National Payment System" should come into force, which aim to increase the legal protection of consumers of financial services. In particular, according to part 4 of this article, banks (money transfer operators) are now obliged to inform the client about each transaction using an electronic means of payment by sending him an appropriate notification in the manner established by the contract with the client.

According to part 5 of article 9 FZ-161 the money transfer operator is also obliged to provide the client with the opportunity to send him a notification about the loss of the electronic means of payment and/or its use without the consent of the client.

Part 6 of Article 9, in turn, obliges banks to record notifications sent to the client and received from the client, as well as store the relevant information for at least three years.

In Part 7 of Article 9, banks are obliged to provide the client with documents and information related to the use of his electronic means of payment, in the manner prescribed by the contract.

The most important changes are introduced in parts 11 - 15 of Article 9 of the FZ-161: they oblige the money transfer operator to reimburse the client for the amount of the transaction performed without his consent or in case of violation of the rules for informing the client about the disputed transaction. In accordance with the law, for this, the client must notify the bank of the use of the electronic means of payment without his consent no later than the day following the day of receipt from the bank of notification of the transaction.

The law obliges the bank to reimburse the client for the amount of the disputed transaction if the bank does not fulfill the obligation to inform the client about the completed transaction upon receipt. If the financial institution fulfills this obligation, then it is obliged to reimburse the amount of the transaction performed without the consent of the client, if it does not prove that the latter violated the procedure for using the electronic means of payment, which entailed the transaction without his consent, the parts of the FZ-161 that entered into force say.

At the end of December 2013 , the Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced the readiness of almost all credit institutions using electronic means of payment to comply with the requirements of Article 9 of the law on the national payment system. Several credit institutions, according to the Central Bank, were supposed to complete preparations by the end of 2013.

2012

Limits on Turnover and Balance

On October 1, 2012, new rules for owners of electronic wallets, which are provided for by the law on the National Payment System, began to operate. From now on, limits on turnover and balance of funds in the account are introduced.

The owners of wallets wishing to remain anonymous should not exceed 15 thousand rubles at any time, and the total amount of funds transferred should not exceed 40 thousand rubles per month. Until now, there have been no such restrictions, more than 15 thousand rubles could not be only a one-time replenishment of the wallet.

Owners of wallets who want to operate in large amounts must be identified. To pass identification, you need to appear at the office of the company that issues electronic money with a passport. Or pass identification in another way established by law. In this case, the limit on the balance of funds in the account will be 100 thousand rubles. The number of electronic wallets that a citizen can open is not limited.

All electronic money companies were obliged to bring their activities in line with the law by October 1, i.e. either to obtain a bank license or an NPO license.

New regulation on the protection of information in the payment system

The Russian government website published in June 2012 a new "Regulation on the Protection of Information in the Payment System," signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on June 13, 2012. The document should enter into force on July 1, 2012.

The new provision is the final version of a document first published by the FSTEC in early 2012. Interestingly, during the revisions, the word "national" was removed from the name of the information protection requirements in the National Payment System.

The second noticeable change was the fundamental reduction in the document: its volume decreased by 3.5 times, and the number of points decreased from 19 to 17.

The reduction of the text was achieved by excluding from the text many legislative tautologies, that is, requirements for the protection of information that are already present either in the Law "On the National Payment System" or in the Laws "On Electronic Signature" and "On Personal Data."

In general, the provision imposes quite expected requirements on operators (credit institutions) and agents (directly accepting payments) of the National Payment System.

Thus, the document requires the operator and agent of the payment system, firstly, to create a structural unit or appoint an employee responsible for information security, to include requirements for information protection in the job descriptions of employees working with the payment system.

In addition, the operator must design a technical information protection system taking into account the possibility of intercepting information on the Internet; is obliged to establish rules for access to information processing tools, develop a package of internal documents on information protection and organize monitoring of the implementation of established rules, identification of incidents and a response system.

Interestingly, as security expert Mikhail Emelyannikov from Emelyannikov, Popova and Partners noted in his blog, the document does not mention the assessment of the compliance of information protection tools, that is, their mandatory certification in the FSB and FSTEC. Nevertheless, the document contains a complete list of security tools, mentioning cryptographic, antivirus, firewalls, anti-unauthorized access tools, intrusion detection systems and security controls.

Perhaps the lack of mention of a mandatory conformity assessment is an omission of the drafters of the provision. At the same time, it is possible that this is a consequence of the struggle of the authors of the text with legislative tautologies for reducing the volume of the document.

2011

NPS bill passed in second and third readings

At a meeting on June 14, 2011, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the second and third readings a bill on the national payment system (NPS). The purpose of the document is to legislate the concept of "payment system," establish requirements for the organization and functioning of such systems, as well as supervision and control over their activities. The subject of the bill is the activity and interaction within the framework of payment systems of money transfer operators, including electronic money operators, payment processing operators, payment systems and payment infrastructure services (operating, clearing and settlement centers).

The bill defines the NPS as a set of money transfer operators (including electronic money), bank payment agents, payment agents, federal postal organizations. NPS operators include the Bank of Russia, credit institutions entitled to transfer funds, and Vnesheconombank.

The bill describes the procedure and rules for transferring funds by the operator. Before transferring money, the operator is obliged to provide customers with the opportunity to find out the amount of the commission and how to determine the exchange rate.

It is established that the payment system infrastructure includes a settlement center, a payment and clearing center and an operational (processing) center. In particular, the payment clearing center is an organization that, within the framework of the payment system, provides acceptance for the execution of orders of payment system participants on the transfer. Settlement Center - an organization that performs debits and crediting of funds on bank accounts of payment system participants, as well as sends confirmation of the execution of their orders. According to the amendments, settlement and payment and clearing centers in any case should be localized in Russia, and processing, as reported, can be organized both in Russia and abroad. Initially, it was supposed to ban the transfer by international payment systems of information abroad about payments made in Russia.

As Vladislav Reznik, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, explained, the bill defines the transfer of electronic money as a new form of non-cash payments, which will be carried out exclusively by credit organizations on behalf of clients. To these credit institutions, the Bank of Russia will issue a special type of lightweight licenses that give the right to work with electronic money. Electronic money is defined as funds contributed by clients to credit organizations that are taken into account without opening bank accounts.

The bill also regulates issues related to "electronic means of payment" (ESP), which mean different ways of remote management of funds held by credit institutions. "The issue of responsibility for the use of an electronic means of payment has been settled: we have indicated that the burden of proof for incidents lies with banks. Of course, banks are not very satisfied, "said V. Reznik.

Three types of ESP for electronic calculations are introduced:

• non-personalized ESP with a maximum balance at any time of 15 thousand rubles and a monthly turnover limit of 40 thousand;
• personalized ESP with client identification (the maximum amount of electronic money on the account is 100 thousand rubles);
• corporate ESP (maximum balance at the end of the working day - 100 thousand rubles) for electronic payments for services and goods.

In addition, the bill lays the foundations for regulating "mobile payments." "An electronic money operator may enter into an agreement with a telecom operator entitled to provide mobile radiotelephone services. Under the terms of the contract, the operator will have the right to increase the balance of electronic funds of an individual (subscriber of a telecom operator) at the expense of his funds, which are paid in advance to the telecom operator. Thus, conditions have been created for using a mobile phone to make various payments, "explained V. Reznik.

MPs reassure public: There will be no restrictions on foreign cards

On April 5, 2011, it was reported that the creation of a national payment system after the entry into force of the relevant law will not lead to difficulties for the use of plastic Visa and MasterCard cards in Russia. This opinion was expressed by the deputy chairman of the relevant State Duma committee on the financial market Yuri Isaev, commenting on the latest publications in the press on this topic at the request of ITAR-TASS. The parliamentarian, in particular, explained the meaning of the amendment, which came to the second reading of the draft law and proposes the mandatory use of payment infrastructure in Russia for payments that are made within the country. "No one restricts any cross-border operations and the transfer of information on cross-border transfers," he stressed, while confirming that adjustments prohibit the transfer of information on domestic payments outside the country. However, the deputy head of the committee is convinced that there will be no difficulties with the use of international plastic cards after the adoption of the law in the current version. He clarified that, according to the proposed norms, foreign operators will have to either open their processing centers in Russia, or use the processing of the largest Russian banks. "The bill assumes a fairly long, up to three years, period that is given for the technical implementation of the requirements of the law," the deputy recalled.

Isaev stated that these changes caused "many negative comments from representatives of payment systems," "people began to be frightened by the fact that Visa and MasterCard cards will not be able to be accepted and served in the country and abroad." "This is not true," he stressed.

Speaking about the prospects for raising the commission on operations using cards, Isaev drew attention to the fact that "the cost of creating processing centers is not a sky-high figure, and the competitive environment will not contribute to the growth of the commission."

2010

The State Duma adopted a bill on the NPS in the first reading

On December 10, 2010, the State Duma of Russia adopted in the first reading the government bill "On the National Payment System" (NPS). By adopting the bill in the first reading, the deputies pointed to a number of serious shortcomings of the document, which should be eliminated by the second reading. Thus, the concepts of "national payment system" and "payment system," which create the legal structure of the document, do not determine payment systems as an object of law, do not specify their property status, do not clarify the legal status of categories of persons who make up the subjects of payment systems.

In addition, the text of the bill does not accurately define electronic money, the technology of its issue and circulation, as well as the type of obligation of the issuer of electronic money to its owner. Also, beyond the legal regulation of the project, the problem of mobile payments remained. The bill leaves out of regulation questions about relationships related to out-of-court consideration of disputes between the user and the payment system.

The government introduces a bill on the NPS to the Duma

In mid-November 2010, a draft law "On the National Payment System" approved by the government was submitted to the State Duma for consideration. The new law aims to create uniform rules of the game for all payment systems operating in Russia. According to the document, international payment systems operating in the country, Internet payment systems, and money translators are now brought under the regulation of the Bank of Russia.

In December 2010, the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market recommended the adoption in the first reading of a bill on the national payment system, while the deputies believe that without significant revision for the second reading, the document could "kill" the sphere of instant payments and electronic money.^[39]

"If you do not clarify the text of the bill for the second reading in terms of key concepts and approaches to regulating this type of activity, then the implementation of the proposed requirements of the bill will actually kill the domestic sphere of instant payments and" electronic money. " Many services will be moved outside the Russian Federation, to more comfortable jurisdictions, "the committee said in its conclusion.

According to the deputies of the committee, the very concept of "national payment system" and other key concepts are not fully spelled out in the text of the bill. In addition, ordinary payers and various consumers of payment services are not even considered as subjects of the national payment system, although it is their rights and freedoms that should determine the meaning, content and application of the law on the national payment system, the conclusion says.

In addition, the bill significantly narrows the rights of payers and consumers of payment services, in particular, any payments in this document are considered as a banking operation to transfer money, and in all areas related to payments, a "banking monopoly" is established, which is likely to lead to an increase in the cost of payment services, deputies of the committee say.

Also significant, in their opinion, is the fact that the norms of the bill are actually replaced by references to the not yet existing acts of the Central Bank. "All regulation is based on the principle -" I establish it myself, I control it myself, I punish it myself, in strict accordance with my order, "the members of the committee believe. A situation arises when the chamber is invited to pass a law, the action of which has not yet been determined and will be determined later by the Central Bank, the deputies say.

The deputy chairman of the committee, Yuri Isaev, noted that the bill considers two concepts - "national payment system" and "payment system," which create its legal structure. "These concepts do not determine payment systems as an object of law, do not specify their property status, do not clarify the legal status of categories of persons constituting subjects of payment systems, obscure legal relations both within payment systems and in some cases relations with customers," the deputy said.

According to Yu. Isaev, when considering the provisions of the bill concerning the legalization of the institution of electronic money in the legislation, a situation of insufficient legal regulation also arises. "On the basis of the text of the bill, it is impossible to accurately understand the legal nature of this phenomenon, the technology of their issue and circulation, as well as the type of obligation of the issuer of electronic money to their owner," the deputy said.

In addition, the problem of so-called mobile payments, that is, the activities carried out by telecom operators for the transfer of funds, remained beyond the legal framework of this project. Also, according to him, issues related to extrajudicial consideration of disputes between the user and the payment system itself are not settled.

The document, according to him, also does not contain norms establishing requirements for the safety of funds received by payment institutions from users of payment services or from another payment system operator.

Secret letter from US ambassador to Moscow: Americans worry about Visa and Mastercard business

In December 2010, a letter labeled "secret" appeared on the Wikileaks website, sent in February 2010 to the State Department from the US Embassy in Moscow. The letter, signed by Ambassador John Beyrle, speaks of the threat to the business of Visa and Mastercard payment systems, which is contained in the bill "On the National Payment System" being discussed now.

A consortium will be engaged in processing payments under the NSPK, which, most likely, will include state-owned banks, a Visa representative told the US Embassy, whose name is hidden in the document (he has already made a proposal to provide technology for creating such a system Sberbank). Foreign payment systems may be able to enter the consortium, giving its participating banks the right to issue co-branding cards with Visa and MasterCard logos.

However, with this option, they will lose commissions for transactions made within Russia, the volume of which is estimated at $4 billion per year. Visa and Mastercard will only be able to service transactions made by Russians outside the country through their usual foreign payment centers, but this is a small part of the market, the letter says.

If Visa and Mastercard do not join the consortium, they will have to compete with a large national consortium and create an infrastructure for processing payments in Russia. The bill assumes that foreign payment systems should create their own payment processing centers in Russia within a year (now not a single payment system has such an infrastructure in Russia), and within two years - stop transmitting data on domestic Russian transactions abroad.

A Visa spokesman quoted in the letter says Finance Ministry officials understand the difficulties created by the bill for foreign payment systems. However, as the interlocutor of American diplomats notes, the ministry has "tied hands." The Visa representative believes that the Russian special services are behind the desire to process credit card payments according to the "Chinese model," and points to a certain order that "no one has seen, but which everyone is obliged to follow." The interest of the Russian special services in this issue is explained in a letter by their conviction that foreign payment systems transmit data on Russian transactions to the American authorities.

According to the conclusions of American diplomats, the US authorities should take measures to change the bill, including submitting a discussion of the document to the Obama-Medvedev commission. It is worth noting that as a result, the bill "On the National Payment System" was submitted by the government to the State Duma 8 months later than originally scheduled - in November.

President of the Association of Russian Banks Garegin Tosunyan assured CNews that the bill does not pose any threat to Visa and Mastercard business.

"The document does not establish any banking monopoly, it is intended only to regulate banking processes, prevent the creation of a parallel banking circuit, create rules for now unregulated segments, in particular, electronic money," says Tusunyan.