Russia needs a law to encourage retailers to accept credit cards and penalize those who don’t, State Duma Deputy Anatoly Aksakov said Tuesday.
“Many retail points, even large ones in Moscow, don’t accept plastic cards,” Aksakov said without providing any figures. “I see this as a violation of consumers’ rights. Even a hundred-dollar bill prompts questions in America.”
Aksakov, who also heads the Russian Association of Regional Banks, said he has just returned from New York, where he changed his mind about paying for an Apple iPad with cash because using a card was easier. Russia, with 142 million consumers, also needs to encourage noncash purchases with tax breaks for retailers who accept cards or other benefits, Aksakov said.
Retail sales advanced for a fifth month, gaining an annual 5.1 percent in May, boosted by higher incomes, according to the State Statistics Service. Real wages rose 7 percent and disposable income gained 2.8 percent, the service said.
The Finance Ministry plans to draft and submit a law on the national payment system, which includes provisions for electronic payments, to the State Duma by September 1, Sergei Barsukov, head of the Finance Ministry’s financial policy department, said Tuesday.
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