Russia Announces Plan to Completely Phase Out Visa and Mastercard

The National Payment Card System (NSPK) of Russia has developed a strategy for the gradual phase-out of Visa and Mastercard international payment system cards issued by the country's banks. This plan is based on economic incentives rather than administrative bans, aiming to reduce the market share of international cards to zero. This is reported by Ixbt.com news reports.

According to the new strategy, NSPK proposes a sharp reduction in interbank commission (interchange) rates for these cards. This measure will make servicing Visa and Mastercard cards economically unviable for issuing banks. As a result, banks are expected to be more interested in migrating their customers to national payment systems.

Economic Pressure and Technological Costs

According to ixbt.com, after international payment systems left the Russian market, the technical support for these cards within the country fell to NSPK. This process requires significant financial expenditures, while cardholders have been deprived of international privileges and loyalty programs.

Dmitry Dubinin, CEO of NSPK, explained that the gradual reduction of interbank commissions will allow banks to phase out international cards painlessly. This process should ensure a maximum comfortable transition while maintaining the convenience of cashless payments for citizens.

Current Market State and Changes

Currently, the following indicators are observed in the Russian financial market:

• The share of the national "Mir" payment system in total operations has exceeded 75 percent;
• According to the Central Bank of Russia, the share of Visa and Mastercard cards in circulation is approximately 17 percent;
• The possibility of issuing new international cards is unavailable, and existing ones will only work until their expiration date.

Experts believe this initiative is aimed at completely eliminating the dependence of Russia's payment infrastructure on external factors. Russian banks have been given one month to provide feedback on this proposal. After that, specific deadlines for reducing the rates are expected to be set.

These processes do not directly affect users in Uzbekistan, but for our compatriots and entrepreneurs operating in Russia, the full nationalization of payment systems helps in understanding the settlement mechanism more clearly. In the future, Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks will lose their significance even for internal use.