Nabiullina: Premature to discuss return of Visa, Mastercard to Russia

YEKATERINBURG. Feb 20 (Interfax) - It is premature to discuss the return of international payment systems to Russia, Governor of the Central Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said.

"No, they have not approached us. And I think it is premature to talk about this for now," Nabiullina said in response to a question about whether Visa and Mastercard had contacted the Central Bank regarding their return to the Russian market.

Visa and Mastercard said in March 2022 that they were suspending operations on the Russian market due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Visa and Mastercard cards issue by Russian banks still work inside Russia as transactions with them have been processed by the National Payment Card System since 2015.

The possible return of payment systems and other foreign companies to Russia started to be discussed after the meeting between U.S. and Russian officials on resolving the Ukraine crisis.

National Payment Card System chief Dmitry Dubynin told reports on Wednesday that Russian financial authorities had developed the payment system very successfully in recent years. "Generally believe that our system is better, we are not afraid of competition if something happens. I cannot comment on anyone returning yet. There is no information," he said on the sidelines of a forum on cybersecurity in finance.