In 2020, Russia’s Mir credit cards will be fitted with Russian-made chips instead of imported ones. A test batch of cards with dual chips for contactless payment has already been made, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.
The microchips are manufactured by local chipmaker Mikron, based at the Technopolis Moscow technology center.
“The new chip is completely Russian-made, it was developed especially for the national payment system and is in line with all international standards. It has its own operating system, which is strategically important in terms of the Russian financial system’s cyber security,” Moscow Deputy Mayor for Economic Policy and Development Vladimir Efimov told the newspaper.
According to Head of the Moscow Department for Investment and Industrial Policies Alexander Prokhorov, Mikron currently produces more than 12 million chip modules for national credit cards, travel passports with biometric data and other digital ID documents.
“Imported microchips prevail on the Russian market at the moment,” Mikron Director-General Gulnara Khasyanova pointed out. “The Russian-made credit card chip will be competitive not only on the domestic market but globally as well,” she added.
According to the Moscow Mayor’s Office, Mikron is capable of meeting the needs of all Russian banks whose payment systems cover 20 million Mir cards every year. One in five cards already has a chip made by Mikron.
