Kazakh bank Freedom Finance has banned transactions with Mir cards

On February 23, the Mir card operator, NSPK, came under US sanctions . Washington previously threatened banks with restrictions for working with the Russian payment system. Kazakhstan's Freedom suspended operations on Mir cards due to this risk

Kazakhstan's Freedom Bank has suspended operations with cards of the Russian payment system "Mir" against the backdrop of US sanctions against it, Sputnik Kazakhstan reports, citing the bank's press service.

“The Bank is considering the issue of <...> minimizing the risk of application of secondary sanctions from foreign jurisdictions,” the press service noted.

Earlier, Frank Media reported that Freedom made incoming and outgoing transfers using Mir cards unavailable - the publication received this information from the bank’s support. There they advised to use alternative methods: SWIFT transfer, transfer from or to a Visa and Mastercard issued not in RUSSIA, transfer by phone number through Tsifra Bank (in 2023, this name was given to the Russian bank Freedom Finance, which ceased to be an asset of Freedom Holding Corp., Kazakh Freedom is part of this holding).

The operator of the Mir payment system is the Russian National Payment Card System (NSCP). Since February 23, it has been under US sanctions, which were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, Office of Foreign Assets Control) of the country's Ministry of Finance.

In December last year, American President Joe Biden signed a decree according to which the financial department received the right to impose sanctions on foreign banks for helping to conduct transactions for sanctioned Russian persons or for facilitating the supply of certain materials and equipment to the Russian military-industrial complex.

The NSPK noted that American sanctions “will not affect the operation of payment services within the country.” In response to a question from RBC about the continuation of the operation of Mir cards abroad, a representative of the operator noted that on the NSPK side “there are no restrictions on working with foreign partners.” “Foreign banks make decisions on accepting Mir cards in their infrastructure independently,” added the NSPK representative.

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