Apple Pay fills the gap that allowed Russian users to pay with Mir cards

According to a report from Apple Pay, Russia’s Mir card payment system will no longer be supported, filling a loophole that allowed Russians to continue using the service despite economic sanctions imposed on the country Reuters.

“Apple has notified NSPK [Russia’s National Payment Card System] that it will suspend support for ‘Mir’ cards in the payment service Apple Pay”, a translated Announcement on Mir’s site read. “As of March 24, uploading new ‘Mir’ cards to the service is no longer available.” The company also notes that any Mir cards previously added to Apple Pay will stop working “in the next few days.” . First Apple Pay added support for Mir cards last year.

Accordingly The guardMine is owned by the Central Bank of Russia and was established in response to the economic sanctions imposed on Russia following the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Central Bank statistics say Mir cards account for around 32 percent of all new cards issued in the country.

Google also takes steps to disconnect from Me, the WSJ reports. The company reportedly paused a pilot program – which started last October – which allows users to connect their Mir cards to Google Pay. “Google Pay is pausing payment-related services in Russia due to a disruption in payment services that is beyond our control,” a Google spokesman said in a statement to the WSJ.

The edge reached out to Google and Apple for comment, but didn’t immediately receive a response.

Many Russian users have been cut off from Apple Pay and Google Pay after several countries imposed financial sanctions on the major Russian banks, including VTB Group, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank and Otkritie FC Bank. earlier this month, Visa and MasterCard ceased operations in Russia by preventing Russians from using their credit or debit cards outside the country or for international online payments.