Share of Visa, Mastercard on Russian market less than 17% - Central Bank

MOSCOW. May 25 (Interfax) - The share of bankcards of Visa and Mastercard on the Russian market has been declining for several years and is now less than 17%, Alla Bakina, head of the Central Bank's payment system department, said during a press conference.

"When these payment systems were withdrawn from our market in 2022, a fair number of them [bankcards] were in people's hands. However, the market share has declined [...] to less than 17% today over the past four to five years," Bakina said.

Visa and Mastercard announced withdrawal from Russia in March 2022, when they held a dominant market share. Bankcards from the Russian national Mir system accounted for 25.7% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Domestically, bankcards of Visa and Mastercard from Russian banks continue to operate, as transactions are processed by the National Payment Card System (NPCS), the operator of Mir bankcards.

"Our position is that, of course, these bankcards should be phased out of our market. They do not offer or perform the functionality they have always provided, but NPCS bears the costs of supporting these bankcards [...] Therefore, NPCS is using economic incentives to force these bankcards out of the market. One such measure has been changing tariffs in connection with implementing VAT at the beginning of this year. Our colleagues from our payment system have also prepared a number of other changes, and we plan to discuss them at a meeting of participants and users, so we hope that they will also be phased out fairly soon," Bakina said.

According to the law, bankcard servicing, processing, and acquiring services are subject to VAT as of January 1. Consequently, NPCS reduced fees for transaction services and services of the Mir payment system that were subject to VAT, including clearing and authorization, which constitute the majority of the payment system participants' expenses, effective January 1. Fees for services that were previously subject to VAT remained unchanged, the company reported.

Established in 2024, the NPCS participants' council includes representatives of banks, marketplaces, fiscal data operators, and other companies. The council's main responsibilities include analyzing market conditions and developing a consolidated position on implementing innovations and technologies.