S. Korea starts accepting Mir cards

MOSCOW. July 15 (Interfax) - Cards of the Mir payment system have started being accepted in South Korea, according to information on the official website of the payment system.

"Payments for purchases can now be made on the territory of South Korea in some devices of the BC Card payment system," the technical support of the payment system told Interfax.

Cash currently cannot be withdrawn from Mir cards in South Korea, the report said.

BC Card is one of the largest payment processing systems in South Korea. It serves more than three million retail outlets. Its cooperation with the National Payment Card System began in 2020. The first test transactions were conducted in December 2020.

The National Payment Card System, which operates Mir cards, was created by the Russian authorities in 2014 after a number of sanctions were imposed on Russia. The National Payment Card System announced the start of issuing the first Mir cards in December 2015.

Mir cards are now accepted in 11 countries: Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. The possibility of accepting Mir cards is being discussed with Cuba, Egypt and Venezuela.