OREANDA-NEWS  Payment system "Mir" has launched in Russia a mobile contactless payment service Mir Pay, which will be able to use any smartphone on Android (starting from version 6.0) with support for NFC technology. This service is still available to customers of RosSelkhozbank, the Russian national commercial Bank (RNKB, the largest Bank in the Crimea), Bank Center-invest, SMP Bank, Bank Russia, UBRiR, Moscow credit Bank and Promsvyazbank. This is stated in the press release of the payment system.

At the same time, the report notes that banks are currently completing the preparation of their devices for contactless payment by Mir cards, and in the second half of 2019, Mir Pay will be available in any POS terminal with the function of receiving contactless payment.

As noted by the General Director of the national payment card system (operator of the national payment card "Mir") Vladimir Komlev, whose words are given in the press service, in 2018 the number of transactions by phone has increased three times, and now the Russians will be able to evaluate such domestic service.

"The popularity of mobile payment services in our country is growing rapidly - over the past year the number of transactions made using them has increased more than three times. We are confident that thanks to the launch of Mir Pay, the holders of Russian payment cards will also appreciate the speed and convenience of our own, national implementation of payments using a smartphone," he commented.

The reason for the creation of the payment card "Mir" was the sanctions imposed by the US on Russia in the spring of 2014. Because of them, on March 21, 2014 two major payment card systems Visa and MasterCard without notice blocked card transactions of some Russian banks. In December 2014. Visa and MasterCard stopped servicing Bank cards in Crimea and Sevastopol (their work on the Peninsula resumed in April 2015).