Russia, Iran discuss recognition of Mir cards, bypassing SWIFT

Iran's Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali says Tehran and Moscow are discussing the possibility of recognizing cards using Russian Mir payment system.

"The issue is on the agenda, which we are discussing with our Russian colleagues," Jalali said at a press conference on Thursday.

Mir is a Russian payment system for electronic fund transfers established by the Central Bank of Russia under a law adopted on May 1 2017.

The system is operated by the Russian National Card Payment System (NSPK), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Central Bank of Russia.

Over 50 percent of Russians are said to have at least one Mir bank card, and more than 25 percent of Russian financial transactions are carried out using this system.

Jalali further noted that Russia and Iran are also working to unify financial messaging systems that bypass the SWIFT interbank payment system.