Fast Payment System app removed from AppStore

MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Applications from the National Payment Card System (NSPK) have been removed from the AppStore (the online store for iOS devices), Interfax correspondents said.

The FPS (Fast Payment System) application, which makes it possible to pay for purchases via NFC tags and a QR code, has disappeared from the App Store. The Hello! app, where promotions and cashback for clients of the Mir payment system and the Fast Payment System are collected, was also removed.

OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control, the division of the U.S. Treasury Department responsible for sanctions enforcement) imposed sanctions against the NSPK on February 23. The company said that the sanctions would not affect the operations of the Russian payment infrastructure and that the services of the Mir payment system and FPS transactions would be conducted as usual and be available in full.

OFAC warned in September 2022 that non-U.S. financial institutions that conclude agreements with the Russian NSPK risk being involved in actions, which circumvent U.S. sanctions by expanding the territory for use of the Mir payment system outside Russia. Meanwhile, the NSPK itself was not on the sanctions list at the time, while its head, Vladimir Komlev, was subject to blocking sanctions (he left this post at the beginning of 2024).

NSPK, the operator of Mir cards, was created by the Russian government in 2014 after several sanctions were introduced against Russia. NSPK announced the issue of the first Mir cards in December 2015.