Source: Digit News
On Friday, March 25, Ukraine Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Federov took to Twitter. He posted a tweet addressing Apple Inc.and Samsung Electronics Ltd separately. However, he was addressing a common issue while referring to them- Russia’s ‘Mir’ cards.
Federov, in the tweet, enquired of Samsung as to when will it block the Russian Mir Cards for its Samsung Pay. The vice prime minister extended his thanks to Apple Inc. for supporting and thus, completely disabling Mir Cards. The tech company blocked Russia’s Mir Cards for Apple Pay on Thursday, March 24.
Apple Pay’s position amidst the Russia-Ukraine War:
Apple had informed the National Payment Card System (NSPK) of Russia that it will suspend support for Mir cards on their Apple Pay. Consequently, the tech giant informed banks in Russia that it would be disabling Mir cards. They mentioned they would suspend all connections to the Card system with the e-wallets of Apple Pay.
The restrictions from US-based payment systems led to the blockage of Mastercard and Visa card services in the country. Despite this, Apple Pay still had the provision of the Mir Card system available for Russians. According to sanctions placed on banks, payments from Visa and Mastercard card systems were blocked in the country. Additionally, as the sanctions also affected certain Russian banks, services of Apple and Google Pay became limited from Friday, February 25.
Thanks @Apple for support and complete blocking “Мир” cards for Apple Pay.
@SamsungMobile when will you disable “Мир” for Samsung Pay?— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 25, 2022
What is the Mir card system of Russia?
‘Mir,’ directly translates to ‘peace’ or ‘world’ in Russian. It is a payment system in the Russian Federation used for fund transfer through banks. Additionally, all sorts payments related to welfare and pensions go through this Mir system initially. It was started back in the year 2014 owing to the country facing its first few sanctions. Towards the end of 2021, more than 25% of Russian payments were visibly done through this system.
Samsung Electronics’ stance through the war:
As Russia invaded Ukraine, Samsung took a crucial step like most of the world’s leading tech companies. South Korea’s electronics company had suspended the shipping of its products to Russia post the initiation of the war. It also showcased its support towards Ukraine amidst the tensions. It stepped on to donate $6 million as humanitarian efforts. Out of which, it included $1 million worth of consumer electronics.
Samsung had made its contribution like all the big techs of the world like Apple, Microsoft, etc. Hence, Federov expects the company to step up and block Russia’s Mir cards as a support towards Ukraine.
