The Bank of Russia has ruled out setting a specific deadline for the removal of Visa and Mastercard cards from circulation, opting instead for a gradual phase-out strategy.
Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina made the clarification during remarks in St. Petersburg, indicating that the regulator will allow the share of Western payment cards to decline organically rather than enforcing an abrupt cutoff.
This approach maintains a degree of operational continuity for Russian banks and consumers while the domestic Mir card system continues to gain market share.
The absence of a hard deadline suggests that existing Visa and Mastercard-issued cards will remain functional for the foreseeable future, though new issuance is likely to be restricted or non-existent.
For financial institutions, this means continued exposure to legacy payment rails without a clear migration endpoint.
The development arrives as the Bank of Russia navigates a complex monetary landscape.