Currently, MIR cards have been accepted by device networks of 300 Russian banks, including more than 130,000 ATMs and 2,700,000 POS terminals, which makes the MIR payment system a competitor for international systems, including American Express, VISA and Master Card, Chinese UnionPay and Japanese JCB. Russian banks have already issued more than 69.7 million MIR cards.

«We were waiting for an acquirer for the MIR card to be established in the UK. Demonstrating the potential of Russia’s financial services abroad is extremely important. Today, increasing the number of companies connected to acquiring, creating the appropriate infrastructure and assisting in connecting new organisations in the United Kingdom is one of our most important tasks,» said Boris Abramov, Russian Trade Representative in the UK.

The ability to make transactions through the Russian system will simplify payment transactions for customers of companies that offer products or services in the Russian market, and, as a result, increase their turnover. For the UK, which will be the first launch country, the MIR payment system opens up access to the Russian consumer market.

The benefits to the tourism sector are also obvious. Each year, more than forty million tourists from Russia visit Europe with average daily expenses of about 172 pounds, their purchasing power and average expenses are much higher than those of tourists from other countries. Russian tourists spent 24 billion pounds abroad in 2018 and ranked eighth place among foreign tourists visited Europe.

Vladimir Komlev, Chief Executive Officer of the MIR Payment System:

«Today, MIR cards have already been accepted in eight countries, and we keep working on expansion of our cards’ acceptance network and opportunities for their holders. The launch of our joint project with PayXpert is the first and foremost step in the development of MIR acquiring in Europe, which will lay the foundation for new promising trends in the foreign expansion of Russian payment cards.»

In the words of PayXpert’s CEO Nicolas Riegert: «PayXpert is on the cutting-edge of the payment sector, with innovative solutions for today´s digital as well as retail marketplaces. No company doing business in our global economy can do without a solid cross border payment system to back them up. And so, PXP´s participation in the MIR Russian Card Scheme launch in Europe is the next step in our aim of being the best payment partner, connecting businesses and customers locally and around the world.»

PayXpert, the payment experts

PayXpert is a company specialised in the integration and management of innovative payment solutions for business, and in local alternative payments, with a strong focus on providing maximum security in purchase transactions.

Created in 2009, it offers any business looking to internationalise its activity the most suitable methods for local payment habits or for a concrete community. PayXpert customers can save time and increase efficiency thanks to the transaction options provided by this fintech, which has more than 150 payment methods and processes in more than 40 different currencies.

Currently, PayXpert has several offices in Europe (UK, Spain and France) and Asia (Taiwan) to ensure that it covers the majority of the territory it operates in, and so it can offer the most appropriate payment methods in each of these areas. In the UK, for example, PayXpert is one of the few official partners of both WeChat Pay and Alipay, the most widely used payment methods in China. Its knowledge and experience of other more advanced markets, such as Asia, in terms of digital payments, allow PayXpert to provide its customers with the latest in payment technology.

V the Russian-British business forum is being organized by the Trade Delegation of Russia in the UK and the Roscongress Foundation, and is taking place under the auspices of Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.