Iranian Central Bank: Russia and Iran finalizing integration of national payment systems

(Patria) - Moscow and Tehran have finalized the integration of the Russian Mir and Iranian Shetab payment systems, said the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Mohammad Reza Farzin, TASS reported.

"During the meeting, the parties finalized the conditions for connecting the Russian Mir payment system with the Iranian Shetab, and this project has entered the operational phase," Farzin said upon returning from St. Petersburg, where he spoke with the governor of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina.

Farzin said that in the first phase, which begins on August 22, "bank cards of the Iranian Shetab system can be used as Amber smart cards at all ATMs across Russia, and Iranian citizens will be able to withdraw rubles from Russian ATMs using their cards."

"The second phase includes the possibility of payments by Russian citizens' cards in Iran," Farzin said, adding that in the third phase, Iranians will be able to pay with Shetab cards in Russian stores via a regular bank terminal.

In April 2024, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the project of using Mir cards had entered the implementation phase. In May 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the countries were discussing how to connect the Mir and Shetab payment systems.