Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 29
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
The bank payment systems of Iran and Russia will be linked in the near future, Iran's Central Bank Chief Valiollah Seif said.
He made the remarks after returning home from a two-day visit to Moscow, Mehr news agency reported Mar. 29.
He said that the issue of linking Russia’s Mir payment system to Shetab - Iran's local payment system was discussed with Russia’s Central Bank officials during the visit.
The negotiations are almost finalized and a memorandum of understanding is expected to be prepared within one week, Seif said.
Once the agreement is signed technically one month is needed for integration of the bank payment systems, he said adding that in this case Iranian citizens will be able to use their bank cards on the territory of Russia, while Russian bank cards will also operate in Iran like local cards.
Iran’s central bank plans to link the Iranian credit cards to the banking network of the neighbouring countries. So far positive talks have been held with Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Iraq in this regard, according to the Iranian officials.
Last August Iran and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the banking sector. Under the terms of the MoU, the banking card systems of Iran and Azerbaijan will be switched therefore the citizens from the two countries can use their banking cards in Iran
and Azerbaijan.
Iran has lost hope to connect to international credit card services, including MasterCard and Visa, despite the initial optimistic statements following the removal of international sanctions last year.
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