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Russia Tells Visa and Mastercard to Finally Leave as Market Share Plummets Below 17%

Alla Bakina, a director at the Central Bank of Russia, noted that Mir cards haven’t been widely adopted – less than 17% of people in Russia use them. This has led to Mir and other payment systems taking the place of Mastercard and Visa.

  • Key Takeaways:

  • Citing system costs, the Bank of Russia wants Visa and Mastercard to fully exit as their market share dropped below 17%.
  • As cashless payments hit 88%, Ilya Grashchenkov expects a calm, disruption-free market shift.
  • Experts point out that Russia will calmly transition users to its Mir system, which issued 476.5M cards by Jan 2026.

Mastercard and Visa Card Adoption Falls Under 17% in Russia

Mastercard and Visa, which together control over 75% of the global credit card market, stopped operating in Russia in 2022 to follow international sanctions.

On Monday, Alla Bakina, Director of the Bank of Russia’s National Payment System Department, revealed the institution’s stance on the impaired operation of these companies in the Russian market. According to Russian news agency TASS, Bakina stressed that Mastercard and Visa should “leave our market because they no longer carry out or provide the functionality they always ensured, while the National Payment Card System continues to bear the costs of supporting these cards.”

As a crypto investor, I’ve been watching the payments landscape shift, and it’s interesting to see even traditional players like Visa and Mastercard losing ground. I recently read that their combined market share is now under 17%! Apparently, while people still *have* their cards, they’re just not using them as much. It seems banks are slowly moving towards alternatives, including Russia’s Mir card system, which could open up opportunities for other payment solutions – maybe even crypto – to gain traction.

Bakina noted that the payment system is proving strong and flexible despite ongoing economic and societal challenges. Cashless payments continue to be very popular.

However, these companies won’t be forced to leave the country. According to Ilya Grashchenkov, head of the Center for Regional Policy Development, we can expect a smooth and gradual changeover – funds will remain secure, payments won’t be interrupted, and there’s no need for customers to rush to withdraw their money.

Sergey Vasilkovsky, an expert at the Stolypin Institute for Growth Economics, argues that this move will make Russia’s payment system more secure. He points out that Visa and Mastercard cards still being used in the country are often expired, making a switch to the Mir payment system a sensible step.

According to the central bank, the Mir card system, established in 2014, had issued over 476.5 million cards as of January 2026, with discussions to extend it to other countries. For 2025, the share of cashless payments in retail turnover was on 88%.

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2026-05-26 10:57