Visa and MasterCard transactions within Russia will be done via a new National System of Payment Cards bypassing all non-Russian banking infrastructure
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© Russia Insider
The Central Bank announced 1 April 2015 as the launch date for the National System of Payment Cards (NCPS) of the Russian Federation. This new system will operate inside Russia and control the issuing of bank cards connected with the international payment systems of Visa and MasterCard. This now means that the West will not be able to block the cards of Russians through the introduction of financial sanctions.

However, not all international payment systems have been connected to the national system, according to Kommersant. "Beginning on 1 April, the National System of Payment Cards will carry out processing operations on domestic MasterCard cards of all banks included in the plan," a statement published the same evening by the Central Bank said.

The document also states that the transfer of Mastercard transactions for processing by the NSPC would be completed only towards the middle of April. Until then, operations will continue in the Mastercard processing center abroad.

As for Visa cards, some commentators believe this process (of by-passing the sanctions) will take even longer. The process of joining the NSPC will take one to two months, writes Izvestia. In addition, it is reported that the representatives of Visa do not intend to pay a security deposit. If they do not, they face a fine amounting to that of the security deposit.

An Izvestia source emphasized that Visa may be able to avoid paying such a fee or fine by taking the matter to court. By the time a lawsuit could be resolved, Visa would have already performed all necessary operations and safely connected to the NSPC.

Izvestia explains that a security deposit is required to ensure a continuity of calculations and uninterrupted financial services for Russians. By law, the size of this deposit must be equal to the total amount of funds transferred and must be implemented in Russia within two days.

The Central Bank assured the public that holders of Visa and MasterCard cards would not be even be aware of the transition to the NSPC. Creators of the system have confidence in its reliability, and the view that card transactions will function perfectly well in this new scheme is also shared by most banks in the Russian Federation.

Source: RT in Russian
Translated by Aleksei Shestyan