Sanctions-hit Russia mulls payment system tie-up with China to cut reliance on the West
Moscow considers expanding its Karta Mir network through links to Chinese services
Russia and China were considering linking their national payment system, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday, as he called for a more balanced global finance structure.
Noting the rise of China’s UnionPay system and Beijing’s efforts to internationalise its currency, the yuan, Medvedev said in Beijing that Russia was developing its own payment system, known as Karta Mir.
“At the present moment it is being discussed whether Karta Mir should be linked to Chinese payment systems,” he said, while standing alongside Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
That would have “good prospects” and “avoid those problems that sometimes arise when you use American payment systems”, Medvedev said, mentioning Visa and Mastercard without elaborating.
Russia started to create the Karta Mir system after Western sanctions were imposed on the country in 2014, during the Ukraine crisis. The system is now widely accepted in Russia.