Turkish President Recep Tyyip Erdogan has reportedly called for Russia and Turkey establish a new system of payment between the two countries. The move comes as the U.S. continues to press against Turkish use of Russian Mir Cards. They have also been working closely with Turkish banks to allow Russian tourists in Turkey to make payments.
Turkish government given task by President Erdogan to develop Mir Alternative.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has instructed ministers to develop a payment system with Russia to serve as an alternative to the Russian banking system Mir. A Haber TV reported that Turkish and Russian officials had already met to discuss this issue.
This move comes after Washington stated that it would attempt to convince Turkey to reduce support for Mir. Russians visiting Turkey with their credit cards have few options as Western sanctions have stopped them from accessing major international destinations and global credit cards. This year, many of them traveled to Turkey.
Kommersant Russian Business Daily quoted A Haber as saying that both the Turkish and Russian relevant government departments were currently in negotiations, while President Erdogan will be participating in the discussions.
Mid-September saw Washington’s administration indicate that they may issue sanctions to countries who transact with Mir. Denizbank and Isbank were two of five Turkish banks that used the Russian payment system. This system is being used by Ziraat, Vakifbank, Halkbank and Vakifbank which are state-owned.
The U.S. Treasury later expressed willingness to persuade the Turkish government to decrease Mir’s use. Last week, American authorities expanded the sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to include the chief executive of the Central Bank of Russia’s National Card Payment System (NSPK), Mir’s operator.
Russian domestic payments are processed by the NSPK. Mir was established by Moscow in response to the 2014 annexation and denial of Visa and Mastercard services to several Russian banks. Russia developed the System for Transfer of Financial Messages, (SPFS), which is an alternative to SWIFT. Some Russian banks have been disassociated from it.
Russia’s attention has been drawn to cryptocurrency during the crisis. In order to ease the economic sanctions on Russia, the Bank of Russia as well as the Ministry of Finance had earlier agreed to allow cross-border crypto transactions.
Is it possible that Russia or Turkey might develop a payment system for Mir replacement? Comment below to share your hopes and fears.
Image creditShutterstock. Pixabay. Wiki Commons. Alessia Pierdomenico
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