Apple this week suspended the Apple Pay service of Russia’s Mir card payment system. This effectively closes the loophole that allows Russians to continue to use Apple Pay services. Mir cards are still linked to Apple Pay even after Apple restricted MasterCard and Visa cardholders from using Apple Pay in Russia. Russia’s national card payment system said that access to Mir has been removed. It also claims that the Mir card will no longer work with Apple Pay in the coming days.
“Apple has notified NSPK that it will suspend support for Mir cards in the Apple Pay payment service. Starting March 24, users cannot add new Mir cards to the service. Apple will stop supporting Mir cards in the next few days and all operations for previously added cards,” NSPK said on Friday.
Apple Pay’s support for the Mir payment system was introduced in July 2021. Mir is Russia’s national payment system and 150 banks issue Mir cards. Apple ended the use of Apple Pay in Russia on March 1, and also stopped all product sales in the country. iTunes and App Store purchases reportedly stopped on March 10.
Gizchina News of the week
Apple Pay launched in Argentina and Peru – coming to Chile soon
This is one of the company’s major businesses with which it gains a lot of profit. The company takes this business seriously and makes options for every loss. As Apple pulls out of Russia, the company is spreading into several South American nations to fill the gap. At the beginning of this year, Apple announced the availability of Apple Pay in Argentina, Peru, and Chile. At the time, the company claims that the feature is “coming soon”. Now, Apple’s payment system is finally available in Argentina and Peru.
A new update on the Apple Pay availability page now includes Argentina and Peru, These are the latest countries to offer the service to iPhone users. Several banks already support Apple Pay in both countries. The available banks are
Peru
- Banco de Credito del Perú (BCP)
- Banco BBVA Perú
- Rappi Bank Perú
- Banco Internacional del Perú – Interbank
- Scotiabank Perú SAA
Argentina
- Banco de Galicia SA
- Banco Macro SA
- BBVA Argentina
- Banco Patagonia SA
- Brubank
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Apple has been teasing the launch of Apple Pay in Chile, but, so far, there is nothing new. BCI is the only bank that supports the iPhone wallet app, but Apple Pay is still not available. With this announcement, Peru and Argentina join Brazil and Colombia as the South American countries with this feature.
