Sole bank in Tajikistan working with Mir cards continues to service them

DUSHANBE. April 3 (Interfax) - Tajikistan's Amonatbank Savings Bank, the only bank in the country working with cards from the Mir Russian payment system, has not stopped servicing them.

"You can withdraw funds from the Mir card at some Amonatbank ATMs. At the main office in the center of Dushanbe there are several ATMs that indicate that they service the Mir card," a bank call center operator told Interfax.

Amonatbank is one three systemically important credit institutions in the country. The board of the National Bank of Tajikistan declared Orienbank and Eskhata Bank systemically important credit institutions on January 18, 2023, in addition to Amonatbank.

The Orienbank call center said that the financial institution has never worked with the Mir card and has nothing to say about it. Eskhata bank does not work with Mir cards either.

The United States imposed sanctions against Mir card operator, NSPK, the Russian National Payment Card System, on February 23. The company stated that the sanctions would not affect the operation of the Russian payment infrastructure. At the same time, foreign banks can decide to accept Mir cards in their own infrastructures independently.

In recent weeks, banks in CIS countries have started suspending services related to Mir cards. Banks in Armenia stopped working with the cards as of March 30, and starting April 5, so will banks in Kyrgyzstan. Samsung Pay has stopped accepting Mir cards as of April 3.