[Rockstar]

I reckon the UKR invasion of Kursk oblast have emboldened others to act. It’s also a blow to Russian draft dodgers and others in Kyrgyzstan that depend on their MIR bank card.

Almost all major banks in Kyrgyzstan stopped transfers to Russia

https://www.moscowtimes.ru/2024/08/2...ossiyu-a140007

Large banks in Kyrgyzstan have suspended transfers between Russian and Kyrgyz banks due to new anti-Russian sanctions. According to 24kg, this list includes: Bakai Bank, Demir Bank, Dos-Kredobank, Keremet Bank, Bank of Asia, Optima Bank, Eldik Bank (RSK Bank), Kyrgyzkommertsbank, MBANK and Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB).

The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan explained that commercial banks are obliged to comply with the laws on combating the financing of terrorism and money laundering. This includes checking customers within the framework of the Know Your Customer (KYC) policy and providing documents confirming the legality of operations and sources of funds. Banks are responsible for the safety of deposits and are obliged to assess and reduce risks, including compliance with the norms in the field of countering the financing of terrorism (TFT) and the legalization of criminal proceeds (LPD).

In response to anti-Russian restrictions, the banks of Kyrgyzstan began to take additional measures to avoid falling under secondary sanctions. In particular, the inspection of customers and counterparties for their presence/absence in the sanctions lists was strengthened, the Kyrgyz National Bank was summed up.

In April, the banks of Kyrgyzstan stopped servicing Russian Mir cards, the operator of which fell under blocking American sanctions at the end of February. The local national payment system "Elkart" announced the termination of payments through Mir. Russian cards, which began to be issued shortly after the annexation of Crimea, can no longer be paid in retail outlets in Kyrgyzstan, transactions through ATMs, as well as card-to-card transfers.

Since the beginning of March, most Armenian banks have refused to work with Mir, and at the end of the month the Mir Pay mobile application (OS) was removed from the Android Google Play store. At the same time, Samsung reported that from April 3, users will not be able to use and add Mir cards to Samsung Pay. Kazakhstani Bereke Bank and Freedom Finance also abandoned Mir, and the Chinese payment system UnionPay blocked the work of MIR-UnionPay co-baging cards outside the Russian Federation.