System being developed to allow Russians to pay with Mir cards, QR codes in China - Kostin
MOSCOW. Sept 2 (Interfax) - A system is currently being developed to allow Russian citizens to pay using QR codes and Mir cards in China, VTB head Andrei Kostin told Rossiya 1.
"We are working on it. It seems to us that QR codes are the most promising area, as this is practically the number-one payment method in China - cards are used less - although the Mir card could also become one, which is why we are working on that," Kostin said.
"The number of tourists travelling from China to Russia and from Russia to China is increasing sharply, and the Chinese also have their own cards, so we need to work on this; we are working towards this. I think that there is demand here, and that will bring results," he said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the country was to waive visa requirements for Russian citizens travelling to China for up to 30 days, starting on September 15.
Kostin said in late April that there were ongoing discussions on the return of the UnionPay payment system for Russian clients.
UnionPay is one of the largest payment systems in China. UnionPay cards allow payments for goods and services, as well as cash withdrawals, in more than 150 countries around the world. UnionPay cards used to be issued by over 10 Russian banks, but this was limited to the Russian Agricultural Bank (RusAg) and the Asian-Pacific Bank (APB) after the other banks were hit by U.S. sanctions.
The Mir payment system is operated by National Payment Card System (NPCS), founded by the Russian government in 2014 after the sanctions imposed on Russia. NPCS began issuing the first Mir cards in December 2015. Its sole shareholder is the Central Bank of Russia, which also operates the Fast Payment System (FPS) through which funds can be transferred using the recipient's telephone number and payments made via QR codes.
Head of the national payment system department at the Central Bank of Russia Alla Bakina said in April that the NPCS was planning to launch a pilot project with four countries involving the integration of the QR code payment system based on the FPS.
