The photo from the hotel counter diverges on social networks Alva Donna that “Mir cards no longer work in Turkey since September 10, and the media report “problems” with servicing Russian cards in other hotels. They also report about some “instructions of the Central Bank of Turkey.” Did you figure out with the experts that this is another fake or the truth?

“Dear guests! From 10.09. 2022 Mir bank cards are not accepted on the territory of the Republic of Turkey. Thank you for your understanding,” a user of the portal Otzyv.ru published an ad with this text on the counter at the Alva Donna hotel in Turkey.

Reports of refusals to service Mir cards when paying for services also came, according to media reports, from several other hotels in Antalya. However, judging by the context, they all referred to Mir cards issued by Sberbank, and this is not news: back in the summer we wrote about what it is – almost in the order of things and, for a guarantee, advised to get Mir cards from non-sanctioned banks.

In the telegram channels they write that “Turkish hotels (what? all several thousand? – ed.) confirmed that they “stopped accepting the Mir card, referring to the instructions of the Central Bank of Turkey”, and “payments” World” is no longer carried out by Ziraat Bankasi, Is Bank, Credit Europe Bank, Vakifbank.

This information looks unreliable, or at least partially unreliable. Firstly, there is no documentary evidence of the presence of instructions from the Central Bank of Turkey to any hotels at the time of the evening of September 14.

Secondly, the information that “Mir payments” are no longer carried out by Ziraat Bankasi, Is Bank, Credit Europe Bank, Vakifbank” is strange, at least by the fact that the Turkish Credit Europe Bank has never served or planned to service Mir cards at all. How then could he stop doing something?

The interviewed host companies of Russian tour operators do not know anything about some “instructions of the Central Bank or government decisions” in Turkey that could put an end to the acceptance of Mir cards in the country.

“Yes, service problems can be observed with Mir cards issued by Russian banks that are on the US and EU SDN lists. Including with Sberbank or VTB cards. This is not news, such problems have been observed since the spring, they are periodic, intermittent. In the same place, from time to time, such cards can be accepted or not accepted, this is not related to any state acts, but solely to the policy or technical capabilities of a particular bank that owns the terminal, ”says one of the receiving companies in Turkey major tour operators.”

“There was no general order for Turkey regarding all Russian maps, we would have known. But yes, some failures occur, somewhere some cards pass, some don’t,” say representatives of the host office in Turkey of a third major market player.

The fact that there is no “turning off Turkey from “Mir” did not happen, and the cards of non-sanctioned banks of this system (in this case – “Tinkoff”) are quietly serviced even today, 4 days after the mythical date “September 10”, Mr. , head of the Turkish travel company Tulpar Travel.

At our request, he conducted a full-scale experiment at the Antalya airport and made sure that everything was in order. Video below.

Video file

Obviously, if all over Turkey from September 10 there would be some kind of “instruction of the Central Bank of Turkey” on non-acceptance any “World” cards, it would not be ignored at Antalya airport 4 days later.

“Probably, some hotels have some problems with the banks serving their terminals. Perhaps some kind of glitch. We assume that as a result of several unsuccessful attempts to pay with cards of sub-sanctioned banks at the hotel reception, conflicts arose with tourists who were sure that any Mir card “should” work. And the hotel in such a strange way tried to absolve itself of responsibility by announcing that the cards, they say, do not work not only for them, but throughout Turkey, which, of course, is not so, ”reason representatives of a large tour operator.

< h2>WHAT ARE THE FACTS FOR SEPTEMBER 14?

In any case, the facts are that

• Mir cards continue to be accepted in Turkey today
• The problem of non-acceptance of Russian cards is of a point nature, and how and earlier, is associated with cards of specific banks that fell under the sanctions and specific banks serving individual hotels. With non-sanctioned cards, as before, nothing bad happens on a national scale.
• There is no documentary evidence of the instructions of the Central Bank of Turkey to ban the acceptance of all Russian cards.

Most likely, the problem is related only to the banks in the SDN list. At the moment, the editors are waiting for the official comment of the NSPK on this issue. We will publish it as soon as it appears.

UPD: On the morning of September 15, the press service of the payment system confirmed our assumptions. Her comment says:

“Mir cards” work in Turkey as usual. The Mir payment system notes individual cases of refusals to conduct transactions with cards of Russian banks under sanctions and monitors the situation.

As previously reported, some Turkish acquiring banks that accept Mir cards in the country, may reject transactions with such cards in their devices.”

AGAIN ON WHICH CARDS ARE ACCEPTED OR NOT ACCEPTED IN TURKEY

Let us repeat once again our conclusions from the previous review. So, why, after all, “Mir” cards may not be accepted in Turkey, even if both the terminal and the ATM are from the “necessary” bank? There may be several reasons, but one of them is a problem with the Russian bank that issued your card.

Despite the fact that Turkey has not officially joined the anti-Russian sanctions, in the networks of devices of some Turkish banks, alas, there are problems with servicing cards that are on the SDN sanctions lists due to fears of secondary sanctions. It is possible that there was some kind of instruction from the TsJ – but only in relation to the cards of these banks.

There are now 22 such banks: Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Rosselkhozbank, MKB, FC Otkritie, Sovcombank, Promsvyazbank, VBRR, Rossiya Bank, Novikombank, UBRD, Setelem Bank, Rosgosstrakh Bank, SMP Bank, Moscow Industrial Bank, RNKB, Transcapital Bank, Investtorgbank, Genbank, Vietnam-Russian Joint Bank (VRB), CHBRD, Industrial Savings Bank and Roseximbank.

In fact, the situation is as follows: in the network of the same Turkish bank, different stores and ATMs may accept the card of the “sanctioned” bank, while others may not accept it. By what principles does this happen (one specific sanctioned Russian bank is blocked in the network of a particular Turkish bank by BIN, or by a series of card numbers, or all sanctioned banks, does the entire network of a Turkish bank have such problems or only in individual devices or in certain cities of Turkey etc.) – no one can say.

“Yes, with the cards of sanctions banks in Turkey – roulette,” experts admit.

Fundamental conclusion. In order not to play roulette on vacation, take Mir cards on a trip to Turkey not only from your bank, if it is on the sanctions list, but also order one more, safety card – from a bank that is not included in the list of 22 sanctions, unofficially payment market experts advise. There shouldn't be any problems with such cards.

It may also be a matter of the type of card: for example, with credit cards, Sberbank pension cards or Mir installment cards, cash withdrawals may be prohibited or limited, or use outside the Russian Federation may be prohibited.

The Mir card (no debit or credit card of any bank) will not allow you to withdraw any other currency except for Turkish liras in Turkey. This is impossible, no matter how much you connect foreign currency accounts to it (even if some bank gives you such an opportunity).

There are other reasons why the Mir card may not be accepted in Turkey. About them – here.