Will the servicing of Mir cards be discontinued in Tajikistan?

Some CIS and Central Asian countries will stop servicing Mir bank cards.

According to Kyrgyz media, as of April 5, Kyrgyzstan will stop servicing bank cards of the Russian payment system Mir.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed sanctions against the National Payment Card System, the operator of the Mir payment system cards. In this regard, the Interbank Processing Center of Kyrgyzstan has decided to cease servicing Mir bank cards in the country starting April 5.

Earlier, media reported that almost all banks in Armenia (except VTB), some banks in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Vietnam, and Turkey have stopped servicing Mir payment system cards. Additionally, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay no longer accept these cards.

At the same time, Tajik banks – the state-owned Amonatbank and Dushanbe City Bank – continue to work with the Russian payment system Mir.

Experts believe that despite Tajikistan’s interest in the operation of Mir payment cards in the country, secondary U.S. sanctions could also deal a serious blow to Tajikistan’s economy, which may lead to the cessation of servicing these cards.