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not move ahead with the plan until Iran upgraded certain banking practices. The key issue appears to be Iran’s payments process. It uses the ‘swiping’ method combined with PIN codes, whereas the Russian process uses the far more international ‘chip and PIN’ approach.
So far, only a handful of ​Iranian banks have invested in chip and pin technology​. ​They include Bank Shahr “City Bank” and Bank Mellat. Iranian retailers, meanwhile, still have little knowledge of the system.
"The Russians believe that as banking cards in Iran are mostly magnetic and less secure than Russian cards, in the event of counterfeit cards, Iran will suffer the damage, and thus have to pay the costs,” Abutaleb Najafi, the director of Iranian Informatics Services Company, was quoted as saying.
8.1.6 ​Bank news
Iran introduces restricted bank opening hours to help combat coronavirus
The Coordination Council of the State Banks of Iran has announced that all state-owned lenders across the country must introduce limited opening hours to help combat the coronavirus, IRNA has reported.
“The working hours of state banks across the country will be from 8am to 12:30-1.30pm,” the council announced in a statement.
Iran is in the midst of a severe coronavirus outbreak. Many people are choosing to not go to work, with the impact on the workforce exacerbated by the government closing schools across the country to help stem the spread of the virus. As of March 2, there were officially 1,501 confirmed coronavirus cases in Iran, with 66 deaths.
Also as part of the response to the epidemic, government institutions and the parliament have been closed down until further notice.
Trade between Iran and its neighbours has ground to a halt. Several countries have closed their borders to Iranians.
Video footage circulating online suggests the Tehran Grand Bazaar is now all but deserted during the working week.
8.2 ​Central Bank policy
Iran’s central bank orders commercial lenders to provide 3-month ‘coronavirus grace period’ on loans
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has ordered all commercial banks to offer a three-month repayment grace period on loans to counter financial difficulties caused to people by the coronavirus pandemic.
Iranian businesses are losing millions of dollars a day due to the collapse of footfall in the country, with so many people staying indoors and not venturing out to raise their chances of not contracting the virus, also known as COVID-19.
The CBI took its decision following an approval given by the governmental Money and Credit Council to help commercial operators through the ongoing epidemic, which had claimed around 400 lives in Iran by the end of March 11.
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO's) emergencies head Michael Ryan said on March 11 that the COVID-19 situation in Iran was "very serious". The WHO had sent 40,000 testing kits to Iran but there was still a shortage of ventilators and oxygen, he added. "Iran and Italy are suffering now but I guarantee you other countries will be in that situation very soon," he commented.
32​ IRAN Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com