California: Russia is paying a huge economic price for attacking Ukraine. Under the leadership of America, Western countries have intensified the process of imposing harsh economic sanctions on them. On Saturday, Visa and Mastercard announced the suspension of their services in Russia. Credit card and online payment majors Visa and Mastercard have also said that their cards issued from Russian banks will not work outside Russia.
Visa said in a statement that the company is working with all its partners and customers to stop all transactions with Visa cards in Russia. After this, no transaction can be done with a Visa card in Russia. Visa cards issued from outside Russia will not allow any transactions in Russia. Similarly, no transactions in and outside Russia will be possible with cards issued from Russian banks. The company clearly said that this ban is related to the crisis arising in Ukraine. Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly said in a statement that given the increasing threat to peace and stability from this war, it is important that we respond according to our values.
Mastercard also decided to suspend its network services in Russia due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Mastercard said in a statement that the company’s decision to block transactions from multiple financial institutions was based on the needs of several global regulatory bodies. Mastercard also clearly said that Mastercards issued from outside Russia will not work in Russian banks or ATMs.
On the decision of Visa and Mastercard to suspend their services in Russia, the state-run bank of Russia said that it will not affect the use in the country of cards issued from Russia’s Sberbank. Sberbank said in a statement that international payment systems Visa and Mastercard have decided to limit their operations in Russia. But despite this, Visa and Mastercard issued from Sberbank will continue to work in Russia. Customers will continue to use them as before for transactions or ATM withdrawals.
