In the spring of this year, the largest banks in the Russian Federation, such as Sber, VTB, MTS-Bank, announced the appearance of a convenient payment method via QR code in Turkey. Due to the refusal of Turkish banks to work with the sanctioned Mir payment system, this scheme looked like an excellent option for both Turkish sellers and Russian tourists - a payment method that is understandable and familiar to the latter from their ruble card could significantly increase the income of the former.
In reality, if payment worked at all, it was only with Sber and on a "hit or miss" basis. Tourists said that, for example, in Antalya it was possible to pay with QR codes in some pharmacies. Other banks report that this function is temporarily unavailable. There is no answer as to how temporary it is; the problem is probably with Turkish counterparties and acquiring banks, and agreements on stable cooperation with them take a long time.
For the time being, in order for Russians to pay in Turkey in local currency, they will have to continue to exchange money or cryptocurrency in the old fashioned way, use the Zolotaya Korona service, or apply for a Letim card linked to the Turkish Troy banking system.
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