Visa and Mastercard systems in Russia. Description of Visa and Mastercard payment systems

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Payment system - a commonality of methods and tools used for money transfers, settlements and regulation of debt obligations between participants in economic turnover. In many countries, they differ significantly from each other due to the diverse provisions in the levels of economic development and the characteristics of banking legislation.

Varieties of payment systems

All payment systems are divided into two types: international and local.

• The first type includes Visa and MasterCard, Diners Club and American Express.
• The second type is Sbercard (cards are accepted only at Sberbank and partner organizations), Union Card, NPS and others.

The higher the status of the settlement organization, the more places its products are accepted. Usually, the type of payment system does not affect the additional costs of the cardholder. So, Visa and Mastercard - what to choose?

Visa payment system

Visa International Service Association is the world's leading payment system based on the dollar, so all currency conversion transactions go through it. Priority in the work of this company is given to the development of the credit card market. Trade turnover is approximately 4.8 trillion dollars a year. This system is quoted in 30 million trade and service enterprises in more than 200 countries of the world. It is served by one million ATMs worldwide. The number of institutions that are members of the system, in total, exceeds 20 thousand units. It is Visa that owns more than 50% of the turnover of funds of payment organizations around the world. The number of issued cards fluctuates around 2 billion pieces. In Western countries, POS terminals are located in almost all large stores or restaurants. Having a Visa card with credit funds or with a non-zero debit account, everyone can pay for goods and services in a non-cash way, of course, subject to the availability of banking equipment of the required level. System Benefits:

• access to money around the clock anywhere in the world, as well as using the Internet;
• the ability to transport currency across the border without being subject to the customs declaration procedure;
• instant, commission-free debiting of funds from the card (this requires settlement at the POS-terminal) worldwide;
• the ability to transfer certain amounts to various accounts, as well as many othersservices.

Visa in the Russian banking market

Over the past ten years, the Visa service market in Russia has been one of the most dynamic. Many employees of enterprises and organizations have salary cards, and the form of cashless payments is becoming more and more acceptable and desirable. Today, in the Russian Federation, it is almost impossible to imagine any large supermarket or car filling station without a POS-terminal capable of accepting payment by a non-cash method of payment from this company.

MasterCard payment system

MasterCard International is an international payment system that unites more than twenty thousand financial institutions in more than two hundred countries. The main goals of the company:

• serving the settlement needs of individuals, as well as legal entities;
• implementation of card issuance programs that are issued under the brands MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus.

The priority direction of development at the present stage is electronic payments on the Internet.

In 1966, several banks in the United States signed an agreement to form the Interbank Card Association. Already by 1968, the company began cooperation with the Eurocard payment system. The name MasterCard itself was approved only in 1979. In 1980, this organization took a leading position in the world market - the number of issued cards reached 55 million. By 2006, the system was recognized as one of the mostefficient and reliable. More than 25% of the world's bank cards belong to this company. MasterCard now has over 23 billion transactions annually.

There is a special service for card users - the MasterCard FAVORITES mobile application - the phone allows you to view up-to-date information.

MasterCard system in Russia

The use of MasterCard in the territory of the Russian Federation is becoming more intensive every year. Russia is considered a promising state for expanding the functionality and development of this payment system. Over the past few years, MasterCard no longer has a significant lead over the leading company in the cashless sector - Visa. 38.5% of plastic cards in the Russian market belong to MasterCard. Their total number is about 27 million copies. Sberbank, TrasCreditBank, MasterBank and Russian Standard cooperate with MasterCard.

MasterCard and electronic payments

In 2013, the amount of online payments in the MasterCard system increased by 25%. The number of users who expressed their intention to purchase cards for online payment also increased. The range of services provided in this industry is actively developing. The company's management intends to create its own service (PayPass Wallet) as an electronic wallet. Its implementation is only planned so far, but many Internet resources have already announced their intention to connect payment for sites using this type of calculation.

How to get a bank card of an international payment system

The way to get a Visa and MasterCard is quite simple:

• apply to any bank in the world that supports this system;
• if you have identification documents (usually a passport), conclude a service agreement.

As for the cards themselves, they can be both debit and credit.

The first type is those on which you can use only the amount transferred to them. In a situation where the funds on the card have run out, they must be transferred to your account for further consumption of the services offered by the system. At the same time, there are cash limits, the increase of which is problematic.

Credit cards are more beneficial to use - all payments are covered by a certain amount issued by the bank. It is only necessary to repay the debt before the expiration of the term, and then the money for the loan is again accumulated in the account. Most cards in Russia are debit cards, unless otherwise provided in the contract.

Online settlements

Not all international debit cards can be used to pay for services and purchases on the Internet. For the Visa card system, this is Visa Gold, Visa Classic and above, or specially created for the Visa Internet network, which is an analogue of Visa Classic. With a Visa Electron card, you can withdraw money at terminals, but online payments are not available ifShe doesn't have CVV2. A VISA Virtual card has also been developed specifically for online transactions and to increase user confidence in online commerce.

MasterCard Standard and above are suitable for the MasterCard payment system when making online payments. And the Master Card Maestro (debit) card, similar to Visa Electron, is used only for offline transactions (it does not have CVC2). If Visa Electron or Maestro are indicated on the sites as one of the methods in this case, it refers to payments made using a variety of foreign electronic payment systems similar to Moneybookers, or to cards issued by certain banks in the West (having the code CVV2 or CVC2).

Visa and Mastercard system in Russia – current situation

During the current situation in Ukraine on March 21, 2014, sanctions were imposed on some Russian banks by some systems (in particular, Visa and Mastercard). Cards have ceased to function in retail outlets and stationary cash dispensers. The most annoying thing is that Visa and Mastercard blocked the payment system without any warning. About half a million cardholders of these companies found themselves in a difficult situation. But, as you know, these organizations are interested in further cooperation with the Russian Federation, and therefore, two months after the incident, international payment systems and the government agreed to continue the work of companies in Russia. During the negotiations there wereAmendments were made to the legislative framework of the Russian Federation “On the National Payment System”: foreign corporations are obliged to quarterly place collateral contributions in the amount of a quarter of the system’s daily cash turnover (that is, about $100 million for each) on special Sberbank accounts on a quarterly basis.

In the future, it is planned to integrate the subsidiaries of Visa and Master Card in Russia into the national payment system. This will create two different organizations. A bill on this topic has already been submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Another issue is that the transfer of all its participants to a single national settlement system will take more than one month. But this necessary measure must be implemented for a more secure economic situation in the country and a secure position for every citizen of Russia.