Visa and Mastercard can return to Russia, but with restrictions

By Alimat Aliyeva

Visa and Mastercard payment systems may resume operations in Russia, but their return will be subject to several conditions, Azernews reports.

Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, stated that while these payment systems could return, their integration into the Russian market will be complicated due to the presence of the National Payment Card System (NSPK) and the widespread use of the Mir card.

Experts point out that the main obstacles to the resumption of Visa and Mastercard operations in Russia are the country's legislation on data storage, which mandates that data be kept within Russian borders, as well as the requirement to cooperate with national payment instruments.

Mikhail Delyagin, deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, expressed the view that a full-fledged restoration of Visa and Mastercard operations in Russia is unlikely. He argued that, to partially return, these companies would need to compensate for the material and moral damage caused by their absence, and focus on external settlements rather than participating in domestic operations.

Visa and Mastercard suspended their operations in Russia in March 2022. Currently, there have been no official statements from either of the payment systems regarding their potential return to the Russian market.

The absence of Visa and Mastercard has accelerated the development and adoption of alternative payment methods in Russia, such as the Mir card and the NSPK system. The shift has also pushed Russian consumers and businesses to rely more on domestic and local payment solutions, making the landscape more diverse but also more complex for foreign payment systems to re-enter.