Visa and MasterCard will create a Russian payment system operator

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, after negotiations with representatives of payment systems, stated that Visa and MasterCard expressed the intention to create a Russian operator for a year and a half, Interfax reports.

“They appealed to the government with a proposal to ensure the regime for establishing relations with Russian payment systems in order to create a Russian company, purely Visa or Mastercard within a year - one and a half,” said Siluanov following a meeting with representatives of global payment systems within the framework of the PMEF.

Up to this point, according to Siluanov, companies will need to provide interaction with the Russian payment system.

In general, at the meeting, representatives of international payment systems expressed a desire to work in Russia. “They have problems in the implementation of the current law in terms of interim measures. They are ready to work in Russia as part of this law, but the question of creating a Russian operator represented by Visa and MasterCard will take time, before that they are ready to work with existing calculated systems, ”the minister said.

Representatives of companies, in turn, are satisfied with the result of negotiations.

“Our proposals were adopted quite favorably, we received preliminary approval of these initiatives from the government, but, of course, the decisions that will be made now, they depend primarily on the coordination that will be carried out directly with the president,” the agency of the MasterCard CEO in Russia Ilya Ryabogo.

The problem of amendments to the law on the national payment system, which became a stumbling block for international bank card operators, can be solved by some additions and by-laws, Ryaba believes.

“We stay in any case,” he added.

The head of Visa in Russia Andrew Torre confirmed that the meeting was fruitful.

“Of course, we are ready to work in Russia. This is a very productive meeting, and we hope that the compromise option will be found, ”Torre said.