< br />
MOSCOW, May 18.The Central Bank of Cuba is working to ensure that within the next month it will be possible to start paying for goods and services with Mir cards in the country, Profi Travel reports with reference to Boris Titova.
«Now Mir cards are already working in Cuban ATMs. The head of the central bank told us that work is underway to adapt Mir to the Cuban banking system so that payments for goods and services can be made through acquiring, that is, by cards. He said that this is not an easy task, but it will be solved in the next month,» he said.
At the same time, the development of alternative payment methods is being discussed with the Cuban side. «Cuba has its own system of fast payments via QR code. [Cuban representatives] will soon go to Moscow for a consultation with the Central Bank, and, probably, interaction will be established to unify the system of fast payments via QR code,» — said Boris Titov.
Recall that in early May last year, Cuban Minister of Tourism Juan Carlos Garcia Granda said that, in coordination with partners from the Russian Federation, the island's authorities are working to facilitate the use of Russian bank cards, in particular, to introduce the Mir system. The authorities of the island expect that this will attract more tourists from Russia.
As the head of the Russia-Cuba Council noted, a number of Russian banks are interested in opening their branches on the island, three of them have already applied to Central Bank of the Republic.
Some banks in Havana in March began to accept cards of the Mir payment system for issuing cash. At the moment, it is not yet possible to pay with the Mir card in restaurants and shops, reports Rata News.
Currently, a flight program is being carried out to Cuba by order of the Pegas Touristik tour operator: three frequencies per week are announced from Moscow to Varadero and two per week — to the island of Cayo Coco.