Russian card scheme enters the European fray with new acquirer

Global card schemes such as Mastercard and Visa are to face additional competition in Europe, following the news that PayXpert has been appointed as the first acquirer in Europe and the UK for Russia’s MIR payment system. Currently, MIR cards have been accepted by the device networks of 300 Russian banks, including more than 2,700,000 point of sale (POS) terminals and 130,000 ATMs. Russian banks have already issued more than 69.7 million MIR cards.

“We were waiting for an acquirer for the MIR card to be established in the UK” commented Boris Abramov, Russian trade representative in the UK. “Demonstrating the potential of Russia’s financial services abroad is extremely important. Today, increasing the number of companies connected to acquiring, creating the appropriate infrastructure and assisting in connecting new organisations in the United Kingdom is one of our most important tasks”.

The ability to make transactions through the Russian system will simplify payment transactions for customers of companies that offer products or services in the Russian market. For the UK, which will be the first launch country, the MIR payment system opens up access to the Russian market.

“MIR cards have already been accepted in eight countries, and we keep working on expansion of our cards’ acceptance network and opportunities for their holders” said Vladimir Komlev, the MIR Payment System’s CEO. “The launch of our joint project with PayXpert is the first and foremost step in the development of MIR acquiring in Europe, which will lay the foundation for new promising trends in the foreign expansion of Russian payment cards”.