Sberbank began developing cards for foreign tourists

Russian banks, including Sberbank, are now exploring options for issuing cards for foreigners. In the summer , the State Duma adopted a law that allowed banks to remotely identify foreigners to open cards and accounts for them

Sberbank is working on the possibility of issuing its cards for foreign tourists who will undergo remote identification. First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank Alexander Vedyakhin spoke about this in an interview with RBC TV channel.

Watch the full version of the interview in the “Index of the Week” program on the RBC TV channel on September 15 at 14:10.

“Yes, we are working on this, we are developing the technology. There is also the issue of identifying clients,” Vedyakhin said. He added that there may be news about the cards issued in the near future .

The head of the National Payment Card System, Vladimir Komlev, said in an interview with the RBC TV channel that some Russian banks are now exploring options for issuing cards for foreigners: “This is a popular service that needs to be rolled out. One of the possible solutions is, indeed, to issue a “Mir” card here, and the most important thing is that this card can be topped up online from accounts in the country where the person came from.”

According to Komlev, first of all, the issue of quickly replenishing such cards should be worked out by commercial banks with their foreign colleagues. “Sometimes these are subsidiary banks in some foreign [jurisdictions] or foreign banks that operate in Russia,” says Komlev.

He also added that foreign partners want such a service to be provided to Russians entering their country. “So that upon arrival they (Russians. -) are also given local bank cards, so that in the same way, according to the same system, there can be replenishment from Russia. So there is mutual interest here,” Komlev said.

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In June 2023, the State Duma adopted a law that amends 115-FZ and allows Russian banks to remotely open accounts for foreign companies and citizens and issue cards to them. To do this, a Russian bank needs to enter into an agreement with a foreign credit or other financial organization and delegate to it the function of verifying the identity of the client or his representative. After completing the identification procedure in their country, a foreign client will be able to remotely open an electronic account in a Russian bank, and upon arrival in Russia, receive a bank card.

In the spring of 2022, the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard left Russia, which is why their cards issued by Russian banks stopped working abroad, and those issued by foreign credit organizations stopped working in Russia. The explanatory note to the bill stated that due to the cessation of Visa and Mastercard activities in Russia, foreign citizens planning trips to Russia for tourism and business purposes, as well as for medical care, were cut off from the Russian banking infrastructure and were unable to pay for goods and services. services with your cards.