Armenia to stop servicing Russia's Mir payment cards by April

Armenian banks will stop servicing Russia's Mir payment cards from March 30, Russia's National Card Payment System (NSPK) said on Tuesday, creating possible spending headaches for Russians living or travelling in Armenia.

Armenian banks will stop servicing Russia's Mir payment cards from March 30, Russia's National Card Payment System (NSPK) said on Tuesday, creating possible spending headaches for Russians living or travelling in Armenia. Mir payment cards, Moscow's alternative to Visa and Mastercard, have become more important since those U.S. rivals suspended operations in Russia over the conflict in Ukraine and their cards issued in Russia stopped working abroad.

Russia has been courting "friendly" countries - those that have not imposed sanctions against Moscow - but only a handful of nations actually accept Mir cards and banks in some countries have backtracked on facilitating Mir transactions. In February, the United States sanctioned the NSPK, which operates Mir cards and had been working with Armenia's domestic payments system (ArCa).

The NSPK said ArCa members would stop servicing Mir cards from March 30, but that cards of Russian bank VTB, which has 53 branches in Armenia, would continue working. Armenia's central bank said on Tuesday commercial banks could decide independently which payment services they should cooperate with.

A financial market source told Reuters that Armenian banks were balancing the risk of losing Russian customers against the threat of secondary sanctions. The limited reach of Russian bank cards reflects Moscow's wider isolation on the global stage. Although many countries have stopped short of imposing sanctions on Russia, very few are keen to display open support.

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