Freedom Island: ATMs in Cuba have started accepting Mir cards

"The Mir payment system continues to work on the international acceptance of cards in friendly countries, including Cuba, which is very popular with Russian tourists. It is already possible to withdraw cash from Mir cards at ATMs of all local banks"б - the National Payment Card System reported (quoted by Interfax).

In addition, work continues on the integration of Mir cards into the system of trade and service enterprises of the country. Vladimir Komlev, General Director of the National Payment Card System, announced the study of the possibilities of accepting Mir cards in Cuba in March 2022.

On September 15, 2022, OFAC provided an explanation, which spoke about the risks of involvement of financial institutions of foreign countries in actions to circumvent US sanctions when concluding an agreement with the National Payment Card System. The organization stressed that the National Payment Card System is not on the sanctions list, but at the same time the company's CEO was included in it. After this warning, banks in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan completely or partially stopped working with Mir cards.

At the same time, the Central Bank announced its intention to continue the dialogue with partners to expand the geography of card acceptance and search for alternative payment options for Russian tourists outside the country. Among the offers there were also transfers similar to fast payments. Currently, the National Payment Card System website does not list the countries where Mir cards are accepted.

"As of the beginning of September, Mir cards were accepted in 11 countries: Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia", - Interfax notes, specifying that the possibilities of accepting cards were being worked out with Iran, Egypt and Venezuela.