In Turkey, there are 3 payment schemes that we are used to seeing: MasterCard, Visa, and Troy. Payment schemes such as American Express and Diners Club are also used in our country, although not as widely.
According to news reported a few days ago, Olga Skorobogatova, Deputy Chairperson of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, stated that work was underway with two banks in Turkey regarding the acceptance of cards from the Russian 'Mir' payment system, and that acceptance of the cards could begin by the end of the year. Which two banks these are has not been disclosed.
What does it mean for a bank to start accepting cards belonging to a payment scheme?
A bank starting to accept cards of a particular payment scheme means enabling transactions with that scheme's cards at its ATMs and POS terminals.
So what needs to be done to accept a payment scheme's card?
First of all, an application must be made to acquire cards belonging to the relevant payment scheme. During the application stage, you need to specify whether you are applying for ATM acquiring, POS acquiring, or both.
The requirements that ATMs must meet for card acceptance differ from those that POS terminals must meet. Therefore, the set of scenarios required for each of the two cases will be different.
In fact, the scenarios even vary depending on the set of transactions you will perform on your POS and ATM devices. For example, when mobile phones are used as POS devices, such as with mobile POS, it is important that the system works according to new-generation payment methods and that cards are accepted according to this structure. For this reason, the structure and technologies you will support as ATM and POS are important in this regard.
So is it enough for our ATM and POS systems to be designed to accept the new payment scheme?
Designing the system alone is not enough. This configuration also needs to be deployed to the ATMs and POS terminals actively operating in the field. Banks usually carry out this kind of deployment remotely.
So is accepting a payment scheme's card a paid process?
Yes, it is. Basically, a license fee and a certification fee must be paid. The license fee varies depending on the type of acquiring requested (ATM/POS). The certification fee can also vary depending on the functions to be supported.
In short, although supporting cards of a payment scheme may be costly at first, it will be beneficial in the long run, both in terms of prestige and in terms of the commissions earned on transactions.
So why is the Mir payment scheme being accepted, and not others?
In order for cards belonging to a payment scheme to be accepted, the usage of that scheme's cards must first be quite widespread. One in every four Russian citizens uses a 'Mir' card. As of the end of March, the number of 'Mir' cards issued had exceeded 56 million. Since Mir is Russia's payment scheme, and the number of Russian tourists visiting our country is quite high, especially in the summer months, it is important for banks to ensure acceptance of these cards.
With the Mir Card obtaining approval for use in Turkey from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA), it is projected that the number of Russian tourists will increase by 50 percent once the card comes into use in Turkey. In short, supporting the Mir payment scheme looks set to be a highly profitable endeavor, both for the banks and for our country's tourism revenues.
