The 2022 exit of Visa and MasterCard from the Russian market resulted in increased use of the Russian Mir payment system in the country and beyond, especially by Russian tourists. In September 2022, the US Treasury Department threatened foreign banks with secondary sanctions for servicing Mir cards, which resulted in many countries' refusing to accept them.
"That is why we are working with each of these countries bilaterally to devise other possibilities, not Mir cards. [It will be] cards of those countries, possibly prepaid cards," Nabiullina said during the review of the Bank of Russia's annual report in the State Duma.
According to the head of the Russian Central Bank, together with the national banks of those countries, the Bank of Russia can create a gateway system providing Russian citizens with the possibility to pay for goods and services abroad.
Nabiullina also mentioned that the Bank of Russia is actively engaged in cooperation with Turkiye on that matter.