Post Bank will release the first batch of Mir cards on the market with a contactless chip of Russian manufacture

A pilot batch of Mir cards with Mikron chips has already arrived at bank service points in some regions.

Post Bank (Pochta Bank) was the first on the market to issue a batch of cards of the Mir payment system with a contactless payment chip made by the Russian company Mikron located in Zelenograd.

A pilot batch has already arrived at the bank's service points in some regions. During this year, Post Bank plans to begin mass production of Mir cards with a dual-chip domestic production.

The issue of the first batch of Mir cards with the Mikron dual chip was the result of a strategic agreement signed in 2017 between Post Bank and Mir payment system on the issue of payment cards with a Russian-made microchip in order to support domestic microelectronics and import substitution.

For Post Bank, the Mir payment system is a strategic partner. Currently, about 9 million cards have been issued at the bank on the basis of the Mir payment system (about 80% of the issue of all Post Bank cards), more than 40% of them with the Mikron chip.

– This year we plan to start mass issue of Mir cards with a dual-chip domestic production. In terms of content and functionality, these cards will not differ in any way from cards with foreign-made chip modules, however, the use of domestic developments in them significantly increases the technological safety of their use and is strategically important for the entire Russian financial system, – a Director of Products and Technologies at Post Bank Grigory Babadzhanyan said.

The new chip developed by NIIME and manufactured at the Mikron plant is a completely Russian product. It is certified by the Mir system for use in national payment cards and meets international standards. The new chip for contactless payment was developed specifically for the Mir payment system and has its own operating system.

– Now the Russian market is built primarily on foreign-made microcircuits, which does not correspond to the tasks of the country's technological sovereignty, – said Gulnara Khasyanova, CEO of Mikron. – A bank chip developed and produced in Russia ensures world-class transaction reliability and can be used in any systems where high security requirements are required.