Russians do not want 'Mir'

More than two-thirds of Russians (70%) do not plan to open a "Mir" payment card, according to a poll conducted by the Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM).

Only 20% of Russians plan to get the card, 3% already have such a card.

Russians, who do not intend to get the card, do not see the need for it (25%) or do not understand what it's for (20%). Another 17% say that there is no detailed information on the 'Mir' card, already existing bank cards are enough for 17%, Interfax reports.

More than half of the respondents (56%) only during the survey found out that since 2015, all domestic transactions on bank cards of all payment systems pass through the Russian National Payment Card System. 44% of respondents heard about it, but only 7% are familiar with the information in detail.

Professor of the RANEPA faculty of Finance, Money Circulation and Credit, Yuri Yudenkov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, drew attention to the fact that the 'Mir' card will be distributed among the population regardless of its preferences. "For example, all students who receive a scholarship have debit cards - so they will use any card the will be given them. Most of the people started to use cards precisely due to salary projects," he recalled.

As for the 'Mir' credit cards, the people do not know much about them yet. "There is also no certainty that this card will properly operate abroad, since it is a novice tool, few know about its possibilities. "In my opinion, it is too early to ask the population about their attitude to 'Mir' cards, because it has just started circulating," Yuri Yudenkov noted.

Advisor on macroeconomics to the CEO of the 'Opening-Broker' brokerage house, economist Sergey Hestanov, noted that there is no objective difference between the 'Mir' and other cards for the population. "ATMs of the majority of Russian banks are ready to receive this card, therefore, from the point of view of the majority of users, nothing will change after transiting to 'Mir'. It seems to me that the survey demonstrates rather the conservatism of consumers, their unwillingness to change existing cards ahead of schedule," he believes.

In this case, it is to be expected that the 'Mir' card will become more popular after current cards of Russians will start to expire. "The 'Mir' card appeared not so long ago, and its implementation is slow. Therefore, they just have to wait at least 3-5 years, after which the share of this card in Russia will grow significantly," Sergey Hestanov concluded.

The Mir national payment system started operating in Russia on April 1, 2015. The system was created after Visa and MasterCard ceased to serve some Russian banks' credit cards due to US sanctions imposed on Russia. Mir, operated by the National Payment Card System (NSPK), seeks to ensure the sovereignty of the national payment industry and secure the processing of domestic transactions using Russian bank cards.

NSPK has now also taken over Visa and MasterCard operations inside Russia. The Central Bank has also set up its own electronic finance message transfer system as an alternative to SWIFT. Most Russian banks started using the system by early 2016.