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Russia Develops Payment Gateways With Partners Like Turkey, Mulling Crypto Settlements – Finance Bitcoin News
The Bank of Russia is building a system of gateways with foreign payment networks and is now working with Turkey in this field. Russia’s monetary authority would also allow the experimental use of cryptocurrencies in foreign economic activities, the executive was quoted as saying.
Russia’s central bank is “actively working” with Turkey on new payment gateways
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is developing payment portals with foreign payment systems and is actively working with Turkey in this area, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said at a meeting with lawmakers in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.
Russians visiting Turkey have had problems with payments since Visa and Mastercard suspended Russian operations as part of sanctions over the war in Ukraine. As of September last year, the Russian Mir cards are no longer accepted in a number of countries.
During that month, Turkish banks also stopped processing payments with Mir following a US warning that financial institutions working with the CBR’s national card payment system, the Mir operator, risked being implicated in circumventing Russia sanctions. At the time, Turkish media reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had proposed establishing a new payment system between the two countries.
“We have built a system of gateways between our payment systems so that we can pay. This does not work in all countries … Nevertheless, such opportunities will appear,” said Nabiullina, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
Alternative options are being discussed with each country individually, the governor elaborated, including the use of prepaid cards or cards issued by the payment systems of the respective nations. Members of Turkey’s tourism industry proposed launching cards that Russians can load with rubles and use during their stay in the country.
Russia has been mulling ways to circumvent economic restrictions imposed by the West over its invasion of Ukraine. One of the considered options is to use digital assets, including decentralized cryptocurrencies that are not yet fully regulated in the country.
During the Duma meeting, Nabiullina also indicated that while the regulator remains opposed to crypto payments in the country, it is open to allowing international crypto settlements under experimental legal regimes. These will be carried out through authorized organisations, she explained, quoted by Tass, adding that the scheme could work with other digital financial assets as well.
Do you think Russia, Turkey and other nations will launch alternative fiat payment gateways and use crypto for settlement? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.
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