MIR cards and social payments
By the end of this year, 2021, many government support measures will finally “move” to the NSPK. This means that pensions, benefits, benefits and other social benefits will be transferred only to MIR cards. What should you pay attention to in this regard?
Until now, recipients of payments were not limited in their choice of payment system. This could be any PS, including international ones, such as VISA, Mastercard and others. Details for enrollment were provided by the recipients themselves.
Features of the Sberbank pension card
Sberbank plastic for pensioners is almost no different from other card products, performing all standard functions:
- non-cash payments at checkouts, terminals in stores, cafes, and retail outlets;
- making utility payments;
- replenishment of a card account;
- payment of loans or credit cards;
- transfers to individuals by card number or mobile phone;
- transfer using bank details.
In addition to the traditional payment method with confirmation by entering a PIN code, a contactless method is provided. If you buy for an amount less than 1 thousand rubles, you do not need to enter a password; payment occurs by touching the terminal reader.
The main purpose of plastic is the rapid receipt of pension funds by the recipient of government contributions. In addition to age pensioners, a Sberbank card is issued to younger clients over 18 years of age if they have received payments from the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation or other government agencies.
What is the MIR Pension Card from Sberbank
To receive a pension on a MIR card, a Sberbank client must transfer the plastic details to the Pension Fund. The issuer is ready to facilitate the coordination of the transition to service, reducing the waiting period for plastic to 1 week. An SMS sent to the phone number specified in the application will notify you that a new amount has been credited.
Plastic for receiving pensions can be actively used on the Internet to pay for orders through special payment services or a bank’s personal account.
To confirm payments through the terminal, you need to know the four-digit PIN code. To make cashless transfers via the Internet, the pensioner first connects a mobile bank and registers an account in Sberbank Online. When performing spending transactions, pensioners additionally accumulate points that are not available to owners of regular non-privileged debit cards. “Thank you” is charged on all expense transactions in the amount of 3 percent or more. For special offers, partners have prepared increased bonuses with a return to a separate account of up to 30% of the amount spent.
The greatest interest among plastic owners is the opportunity to earn an additional 3.5% income on the balance of funds. The interest rate, albeit slightly, increases the monthly income of the most vulnerable category of citizens.
How to use the MIR pension card
To use the card, after it is presented, you must activate it by performing the first transaction through an ATM. Typically, a pensioner, in the presence of a branch employee, asks how much money is on the balance.
There are no significant restrictions on the functionality of the card. It can be used for:
- translations;
- cash withdrawals;
- replenishment of balance;
- non-cash transactions;
- payments for housing and communal services, etc.
In order to pay housing and communal services receipts on time, top up your mobile balance or pay for the Internet, it is enough to connect your mobile bank when issuing and set up automatic payment. On the appointed day, the amount fixed in the settings will be debited from the account.
What does a pension card look like?
In contrast to classic plastic with a discreet gray color, recipients of MIR pension cards from Sberbank will have a life-affirming, positive design of a plastic product on which all the necessary information is printed.
On the front side there is a photo with birds on a white background and a green branch. Also on the surface of the plastic there is a Mir logo designation, which determines the scope of application of the product - this payment system operates exclusively within the state and is not suitable for traveling to Western countries or the East.
Although the plastic looks elegant, there are some complaints about the design - the digits of the card number applied to the surface quickly wear out, which makes it additional difficult for pensioners to read their own details. Over a 4-year period of use, the problem of erased digits occurs even with careful handling of the card.
Advantages and disadvantages of the card
Branch managers do not always mention the possible benefits of the card, leaving clients of retirement age in the dark about possible charges and ways to effectively use the product.
Below, along with the disadvantages, we have collected information about the most outstanding parameters of the card, so that the pension recipient can quickly understand the advantages and make the most of the options provided by the issuer.
The advantages of pension plastic include:
- free service;
- mobile banking;
- online payment;
- connection of automatic payments;
- accumulation of increased bonuses from Sber (from 3%);
- long period of use 4 years;
- accrual of income on the balance.
There are not many disadvantages of plastic:
- Geography of application limited to the Russian Federation;
- payments are made exclusively in rubles;
- relatively low limits on preferential spending of funds (receiving cash within a day or month);
- Not all categories of citizens have access to the production of profitable plastic.
Russian issuers do not have many offers for pension plastic, and the Sberbank product optimally meets the needs of a pensioner.
Tariffs for servicing a pension card
It’s not difficult to understand annual payments and card tariffs for pension recipients - the service is completely free, and simple rules apply when performing transactions:
- Cash out up to 50 thousand rubles per day or 500 thousand rubles per month for free.
- If the established limits are exceeded, the commission is 0.5% of the difference between the withdrawn amount and the upper limit.
- When using third-party ATMs, the commission will be 1.0% of the withdrawal or 100 rubles per transaction.
The cost of early reissue is 30 rubles, for a planned exchange - 0 rubles.
When requesting a balance through someone else's ATM, they charge a fee of 15 rubles. They will provide free statements of 10 transactions or send electronic reports on spending and replenishment of the account.
Connecting SMS notifications is free, but the service itself is paid, starting from the 3rd month of the service. The bank charges 30 rubles per day.
MIR card validity period
Previously, all MIR system cards were serviced for 5 years. Now the validity period of pension plastic has been reduced to 4 years. Still, this period is higher than for regular cards issued with the support of the international payment systems Visa or MasterCard.
To organize a reissue, the pensioner must contact the branch in the last month of the card’s validity (it is indicated in the MM/YY format on the front side of the plastic) and inform them of their intention to receive an updated bank product. During the last month indicated on the card, there are no restrictions on service.
Regulatory rationale
Talk about switching to “MIR” in matters of social payments has been around for a long time. It was originally planned that the transition would be carried out on July 1 of this year. But, as they say, something went wrong and the deadlines were shifted - the pandemic made its own adjustments.
Regulatory acts:
- 161-FZ on the national payment system
- Government Decrees No. 1466 of December 1, 2018 and No. 920 of June 25, 2021
This, accordingly, is the law on NSPK itself, as well as a list of payments to be transferred to the system cards. This list was changed by PP-920.
Interest on balance
The bank charges 3.5% per annum on your money in the account. This means that the amount is charged 3.5% if it remains on the account for 1 year. But the amount in the account may change every day.
When calculating interest for less than a year, the interest rate is divided by 365 days and multiplied by the number of days the money is in the account. For independent calculations, we remember school mathematics: when calculating, we take fractions, not percentages. 3.5% = 3.5 / 100 shares = 0.035 shares.
The bank records funds from the next day after the account balance changes. Interest is paid every 3 months for the actual number of days.
Let's look at an example:
On May 4, 10 thousand rubles were credited to your pension card.
On the same day you withdrew 2 thousand.
From May 5, the remaining 8 thousand will be taken into account when calculating interest. For each day you will be charged: 8000 x 0.035 / 365 = 77 kopecks.
On May 18, you cashed out another 6 thousand.
From May 19, the remaining 2 thousand will be taken into account when calculating interest. Daily: 2000 x 0.035 / 365 = 19 kopecks.
On June 4th the next payment of 10 thousand will be made.
From June 5, 12 thousand are accepted for interest calculation. For each day: 12,000 x 0.035 / 365 = 1.15 rubles.
On June 7 you withdrew 5 thousand.
From June 8, the balance of 7 thousand is taken into account. Daily: 7000 x 0.035 / 365 = 0.67 kopecks.
July 1 interest accrual:
| Days | Accruals |
| From 5.05 to 18.03 = 14 days | 14 x 0.77 = 10.78 |
| From 19.05 to 4.06 = 17 days | 17 x 0.19 = 3.23 |
| From 5.06 to 7.06 = 3 days | 3 x 1.15 = 3.45 |
| From 8.06 to 1.07 = 24 days | 24 x 0.67 = 16.08 |
| Total | 10,78 + 3,23 + 3,45 + 16,08 = 33,54 |
For the period from May 4 to July 1, Sberbank will credit the MIR pension card with 33 rubles 54 kopecks for the account balance.
The card holder has the right to top up the account, 3.5% per annum will be charged on the entire balance. The rate is lower than that of deposits. However, registering a deposit takes time, and deposits with higher interest rates impose obligations. The higher the percentage, the more restrictions there are on using the money before the deposit expires: it is not always possible to withdraw or report.
On a pension card, money is always available, interest is accrued on the balance, regardless of its amount and the period the money is in the account.
For what payments is MIR required?
We are talking about all types of state pensions. These are old-age pensions, survivors' pensions, social pensions and others. Citizens recognized as officially unemployed will receive social payments on MIR cards. Among other government support measures:
- payment of benefits for children, including from 3 to 7 years old, at the birth of a child (one-time), additional payments for the third and subsequent children;
- payments during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as for child care, including for military personnel;
- payments to persons exposed to radiation
The procedure for transferring pensions to new plastic
You can use Visa and MasterCard cards until their expiration date, after which international plastic cards are automatically replaced by a sovereign financial instrument - no application required. This procedure is valid only until July 1, 2020.
Regulations for self-transfer of pension to MIR plastic:
- Go to the bank whose client is a pensioner and submit an application for a Russian card. Bring your passport and pension card or SNILS with you.
- Accept from the bank employee a new card, a sheet with information about it and account details.
- Bring a bank certificate to the Pension Fund office and inform the employee about your desire to receive a pension using MIR plastic, starting from the next month.
You can do without going to the Pension Fund if your bank account number has not changed when you changed your card.
Service tariffs, cost
A debit social card is serviced according to an established tariff plan, which provides for the availability of paid services, regardless of its social status.
So, a little more about this:
Your loan has been approved!
- Annual maintenance is free.
- Reissue after expiration is free.
- Reissue due to loss – 30 rubles.
- Cash replenishment is free.
- Check your balance at ATMs of other banks – 15 rubles.
- An extract about the last 10 transactions in Sberbank is free.
- Mobile banking is free for the first 2 months, then 30 rubles.
- Economical Mobile Bank package without payment.
Cash withdrawal:
- Through ATMs and Sberbank cash desks - free of charge.
- Through ATMs of other banks - 1% (minimum withdrawal amount - 100 rubles).
- At the cash desks of other banks 0.1% (minimum withdrawal amount - 150 rubles).
The daily limit for cash withdrawal is 50,000 rubles.
The monthly limit on cash withdrawals is 500,000 rubles.
