Cuban banks may issue Russian MIR cards

Russian officials of that country’s national payment card system are these days discussing with experts from the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) to authorize the issuance of magnetic cards from the Russian MIR system.

According to TASS agency reports from Russia, the National Payment Card System is debating with Cuba the possibility of issuing Mir cards by banks in that country. NSPK head Vladimir Komlev said this while talking to Russian state media.

,We talked to our Cuban colleagues, we discussed the possibility of starting to issue Mir cards in Cuba. They have RED SA payment system. The technology there is a little different. But we are equally willing to share our standards, formats, systems with them in order to be able to issue chip cards,” Komlev explained.

He clarified that Cuba is not the only country with which cooperation is being conducted, although it is a priority for Russia and the island. The Cuban government intends to make Russian tourism one of the main tourism destinations in the Caribbean nation.

“It’s too early to say. We don’t like to talk before it happens. Because in international development, unfortunately, not much depends on you,” Komlev said.

Russian MIR card and Russian tourism in Cuba

Recently, a Russian tourist in Cuba detailed in her travel blog how she survived in a 5-star, “all-inclusive” hotel on the island for 16 days. It all happened in the famous resort of Varadero in the west of the island.

The Russian travel blogger published a post in which she recalled her bad experience at a hotel of the Iberostar chain in Varadero, Cuba, where she stayed for 16 days.

In her post, the woman offers several tips for Russian travelers to be able to “cope” at hotels, where she said there was extreme pressure to tip. According to him, the most convenient thing was to give “dollars or gifts, but better dollars”.

The tourist was emphatic: “Without a tip you’re nothing,” even if you spent thousands of dollars for a 5-star “all-inclusive” hotel. Treatment varies depending on whether you distributed the money to employees or not.