The National System of Payment Cards (NSPK) has advised holders of Russian-issued Visa and Mastercard cards that they may face complications when attempting online payments. The organization recommends replacing existing cards with Mir alternatives in advance to prevent transactions from stalling at inconvenient times.
The problems arise from NSPK's switch to Russian security certificates. These certificates are used to verify the authenticity of online resources and to establish encrypted connections. The company states that this step will guarantee uninterrupted access to its services and reflects standard practice among Russian entities following the departure of international payment systems in 2022.
Mir cards will continue to function normally for payments both in physical stores and on the internet. In contrast, cards issued under the Visa and Mastercard brands, which exited the Russian market due to sanctions, may experience intermittent issues during online checkout processes.
An additional side effect involves certain foreign web browsers that may fail to recognize the new Russian certificates and display warnings about insecure connections. NSPK emphasizes that such messages result from browser-specific configurations and do not imply that the website has been compromised or that user data has been exposed.
The transition is not expected to impact the security of payments, the protection of personal information, or the reliability of payment services overall.
