Apple Pay Will No Longer Support Russian Payment System Mir

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 27 March 2022, 11:03 am

Apple Pay announced that it would no longer support Mir, Russia's card payment system. The tech giant has closed the loophole that allowed Russians to continue to use the online payment service amid sanctions put on the country because of its war with Ukraine.

Apple Pay No Longer Supports Mir

According to Reuters, Apple has informed Russia's National Payment Card System or NSPK that it is suspending support for Mir cars in the payment service Apple Pay.

Since Mar. 24, uploading new Mir cards to the service has been unavailable. Mir also noted that its cards previously added to Apple Pay would no longer work in the next couple of days. In 2021, Apple Pay first added support for Mir cards.

According to The Verge, Mir is owned by the Central Bank of Russia, and it was established in response to the economic sanctions put on the country after it annexed Crimea back in 2014. Statistics from the Central Bank said that Mir cards make up around 32% of all new cards issued in Russia.

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Google is also taking the necessary steps to discontinue Mir, according to The Wall Street Journal. The search giant reportedly paused a pilot program, which started in October 2021, letting users connect their Mir cards to Google Pay.

A Google spokesperson said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal that Google Pay is pausing payments-related services in Russia due to payment services disruption out of their control.

Thousands of Russian users have been cut off from Apple Pay and Google Pay after several countries imposed financial sanctions on Russia's major banks, including Sovcombank, VTB Group. Promsvyazbank, Novikombank and Otkritie FC Bank.

Earlier this month, both Visa and Mastercard suspended their operations in Russia, blocking Russians from using their credits or debit cards outside Russia or for international online payments.

Apple Halts Sales in Russia

Before Apple suspended Apple Pay in Russia, the tech giant halted the sales of its products in the country. As reported by MacRumors, on Mar. 1, Apple has stopped all product sales from its online website in the country, which means customers in Russia can no longer purchase iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices.

Attempting to purchase from the store in the country will result in a delivery unavailable result when trying to add a product to the cart.

The sales have been halted following a plea from Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking Apple to stop selling the company's devices and to block Russia from accessing App Store.

Apple said in a statement that it has also stopped all exports into the sales channel in Russia and disabled traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety measure for Ukrainians.

Cook explained the decision in a letter sent out to all Apple employees, and he also provided information on how the employees could donate.

Apple matched all donations at a rate of 2:1 for eligible organizations, retroactive for donations made since Feb. 25.