Two of Turkiye’s largest banks have halted the use of the Russian Mir payment system after warnings from Washington over the risk of falling foul of US sanctions on Moscow, Report informs referring to Financial Times.
A spokesperson for Isbank, a private lender, said the bank had temporarily suspended the use of the payment network while it evaluated new guidance from the US.
DenizBank, another private lender, also suspended Mir operations in Turkiye, putting a freeze on the payments system at the end of last week, said a person familiar with the matter.
The move comes after warnings, first reported in the Financial Times last week, that western officials were planning to step up pressure on Turkiye over possible sanctions evasion in the country and were looking at the Mir system as a potential backdoor for illicit finance.
Guidance later published by the US Treasury warned banks outside the US that enter into new or expanded agreements with the operator of the payment network would “risk supporting Russia’s efforts to evade US sanctions”.
Isbank and DenizBank are among five Turkish banks, along with the state-owned VakifBank, Ziraat Bank and Halkbank, that are members of the Mir payment system developed by Russia’s central bank as a domestic alternative to Visa and Mastercard.