Samsung Pay to drop support for Russia's Mir card

March 29, 2024 | 11:07

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Samsung said Wednesday it will stop supporting Russia's Mir card on its mobile payment service from April 3, in a fresh blow to Moscow's flagship rival to Mastercard and Visa.

Mir has become one of the only card systems available to Russians after the two Western giants pulled out of the country in 2022 over its assault on Ukraine.

Samsung Pay to drop support for Russia's Mir card, Source: themoscowtimes.com//Andrei Nikerichev / Moskva News Agency

"Starting April 3, 2024, adding and using Mir cards in Samsung Pay will no longer be available," Samsung said in a statement on its website.

It did not say why it took the decision and Samsung did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Samsung is the third tech giant to pull Mir from its digital wallet service, after Apple and Google cut ties in 2022.

The move comes a month after the United States Treasury announced sanctions on Russia's National Payment Card System, the Central Bank-owned entity that operates Mir.

Outside of Russia, the card is accepted by a handful of post-Soviet states and several countries in South America and Asia, although the Kremlin says this number is increasing.

Some banks in Turkey pulled support for the card in 2022 due to Western sanctions, causing problems for Russians staying in the popular tourist destination.

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