Russia turned to China for help in connection with the lack of chips for MIR plastic bank cards. This was written in the foreign edition of Reuters with reference to the words of one of the managers of the NSPK.
“We are looking for new suppliers of microchips and [нашли] couple in China, the certification process continues,” Oleg Tishakov, Member of the Board of the National Payment Card System, which manages the MIR system
According to the source, Russian bank card factories are facing difficulties. Chinese vendors are closing chip factories due to a new wave of coronavirus – in recent days, the number of infections has increased again in China and a new strain has been identified. On the other hand, European chip suppliers are now unable to trade with Russia due to sanctions.
In addition to production difficulties, the shortage of chips for banking plastic provoked the shutdown of Apple Pay for Russian cards. Previously, iPhone users could get by with a virtual card added to Apple Pay, pay and withdraw cash using their smartphone, but now they have to order plastic for this purpose. Almost all Russian banks are now recording an increased demand for MIR cards.
According to Tishakov, now the situation is getting better, as NSPK found “a couple of suppliers” in China. In addition, now a large part of the chips for MIR cards is produced by the Russian plant Mikron, located in Zelenograd. And many banks have decided to extend the validity of already issued cards, or even made them perpetual, since the number of available chips is much less than required.
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