CBSL affirms will not join Russia’s MIR

The Central Bank confirmed this week that Sri Lanka would not be joining Russia’s MIR payment system anytime in the immediate future. 

Putting an end to speculations, the Central Bank took to Twitter late Thursday evening to confirm its position in this regard. 

“Due to the US sanctions on the MIR payment system, as confirmed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry - Sri Lanka, the Central Bank is not in a position to consider favourably, at the current juncture, the request to operate the MIR card scheme within the banking system,” said the financial sector regulator. 

Earlier this year, Russia, which remains cut from globally popular electronic payment systems, invited Sri Lanka to recognise its MIR electronic payment system. It proposed the move as an avenue to increase tourist arrivals from the Federation to the island nation. 

The Russian Embassy in Colombo said that connecting Sri Lanka to the financial remittance system of the Bank of Russia and introducing the MIR payment system to the island would allow for establishing of direct financial communication and currency exchange, cutting transactional losses and making the process of bank transfers secure and stable.  

The step will have a significant positive impact on Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, the embassy said. The MIR system was founded in 2014 over fears of Western sanctions in Russian banks and businesses over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.  Earlier this year, as the West imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, Mastercard and Visa suspended services in Russia.  American Express, PayPal, JCB, Western Union, ApplePay and GooglePay too followed suit.

Recognising the MIR system still are countries such as Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.