Russian banks have started a test issue of a tourist payment card for foreigners
Russian banks have started issuing payment cards for foreign tourists in a test mode. This was announced by Nikita Kondratiev, Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special Projects of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, writes TASS.
"We are currently actively working with interested banks. Banks are starting to form a financial product for foreigners and are already doing the first test, pilot launches of the tourist card," he said at the strategic session of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry for inbound tourism.
In November 2023, Dmitry Vakhrukov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, announced that a payment card for foreign tourists could be launched in Russia in early 2024. Currently, foreigners cannot pay with bank cards in Russia due to the withdrawal of international payment systems from the country.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko instructed interested agencies to work out the creation of a tourist payment card in Russia for foreign travelers. According to him, this stimulates the tourist flow in the regions of Russia, which have traditionally been interested in by guests from other countries.
In October 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation approved a list of 25 countries whose banks can identify their citizens and companies for financial transactions in Russia and opening accounts with Russian banks. It includes Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. After passing the identification procedure in their country, the tourist will be able to remotely open an account in a Russian bank, and already in Russia receive a foreign tourist's card.
Dmitry Gorin, Vice President of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry, said on February 1 that the number of foreign tourists in Russia last year amounted to about 600 thousand people, while 187 thousand foreigners visited Russia in 2022.
The growth of the tourist flow was facilitated by the launch of visa-free group trips for Chinese and Iranian citizens. The obstacle was the fact that in Russia they do not accept payment by cards of foreign banks.
In 2019, five million foreign tourists entered Russia.
It is also expected that this year an electronic visa will be launched in the Russian Federation, which will allow you to enter Russia on a guest, business, tourist visit, as well as to participate in events, it will be valid for 60 days, issued in four days.
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