A Russian-backed bank payment card, introduced after Western sanctions upended Russia’s financial system five years ago and prompted Visa and Mastercard to deny electronic services to some of the country’s leading banks, is set for its European debut on London Wednesday, when a pilot project will be launched in collaboration with the Dutch global payment company PayXpert.Moscow authorities hoped to get the MIR card accepted eventually in foreign markets, but progress has been slow outside Russia for the MIR payment system, which operates outside of Western-controlled international financial systems such as Swift, which banks use to transfer money. …read more
Source:: Voice of America
