The Russian payment system is not a replacement for Visa and MasterCard, just a much needed alternative, head of Sberbank Herman Gref told RT. The statement comes as the two credit card firms said they will keep on operating in Russia.
“Let an alternative to the international payment systems be, the alternative that shows their global responsibility,” Gref told RT Friday at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg. “It is unacceptable to destabilize lives and financial activities of the huge country because of any political tensions. The population of 150 million people shouldn’t suffer.”
However the head of Sberbank said he does not consider Russia’s national payment system as a complete replacement to the foreign analogues, more as a local alternative.
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Lucas 2012 Infos 