Russia’s national payment system can be created on the basis of two payment systems, Sberbank’s Universal Electronic Card (UEC) and Golden Crown, two sources close to experts’ council for the development of the national payment system told PRIME on Tuesday.
“During its next meeting (on Wednesday), the working group will decide which system the national payment system should be based upon considering the expert analysis, or possibly make a decision on taking something from one system and something from another,” a source said, adding that the second option is considered as preferable.
A Golden Crown source confirmed that several participants of the working group support the idea of borrowing the best features of both systems, but Russia’s Central Bank discussed “specifically choosing a certain platform of one or another system” during its closed session on Monday.
Golden Crown and UEC declined to comment.
In May, President Vladimir Putin signed a law to establish the national payment system after Visa and MasterCard stopped servicing cards of some Russian banks as part of US and EU sanctions against the country.
Golden Crown and UEC are now competing to become a payment platform for the system. A winner will work in co-branding with China’s UnionPay, Japan’s JCB, and Visa and MasterCard.