MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. The National Payment Card System (NSPK) has received an official notification from the payment system of Armenia that from March 30, banks participating in the Armenian Card system (ArCa) will stop servicing Mir cards, the NSPK press service told TASS.

"NSPK has received an official notification from the payment system of Armenia that from March 30, banks participating in Armenian Card (ArCa) will stop servicing Mir cards. At the same time, VTB Armenia Bank, which services Mir cards in its infrastructure in full, will continue working with Russian cards," the press service said.

Holders of Mir cards of any Russian banks still have access to key services in the VTB Armenia infrastructure: cash withdrawals from the bank’s ATMs, payment for services in its online bank. Also, transfers are available using VTB Armenia cards, including cross-border ones, the NSPK added.

Currently, there are 53 VTB branches operating in Armenia, 22 of which are located in Yerevan, NSPK noted. Customers also have access to more than 190 ATMs throughout the country.

Earlier, the NSPK stated that the Mir payment system on its side is not restricting work with Armenian banks. The press service of the Bank of Russia told TASS that the regulator continues to work with friendly countries accepting Mir cards in their infrastructure.

On the decision by Armenian banks

According to RBC, cards of the Russian payment system Mir will stop working at the ATMs and POS terminals of most banks in Armenia starting on March 30, 2024, with the exception of the infrastructure of VTB Armenia Bank (a subsidiary of the Russian VTB). Currently, Mir cards work in Armenia and are accepted by local banks.

In late February, Bereke Bank, former subsidiary of Sberbank and the Kazakh bank Freedom Finance, announced that it would terminate operations with cards of the Mir payment system.

On February 23, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury added the operator of the Mir payment system, NSPK JSC, to the sanctions list.