Nicaragua considering joining Russia’s Mir Payment System

Nicaragua may join the Mir payment system, which was developed by Russia in response to Western sanctions, and allow the use of Mir cards in the country, Tass reported on Monday, citing Nicaraguan Minister of Finance and Public Credit Ivan Acosta.

On the sidelines of the 7th Eastern Economic Forum, Acosta said, "We are now considering various issues of cooperation in the field of finance. I'm still not sure how the Mir card works. We are looking into these issues. We are open to various banking and financial exchange possibilities".

The 7th Eastern Economic Forum, which is taking place on 5-8 September in Vladivostok, was established in 2015 by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin to support economic development in Russia's Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The Forum's tagline this year is "the Path to a Multipolar World." 

Russia started developing its own national payment system when the US targeted it with sanctions in 2014. Back then clients of several Russian banks were temporarily unable to use Visa and Mastercard due to the restrictions. 

Launched in 2017, Mir is a Russian banking system, meaning both "peace" and "world" in the language. With the West's current isolation measures of Russia, Iran, Cuba, and other countries from the SWIFT banking system, friendlier alternatives have been on the rise in a bid to combat the West's economic hegemony and aggression. 

Since the introduction of the new system, Russian banks have already issued more than 129 million MIR cards. They are currently accepted in Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia.