“Unprecedented nature” of the war
Visa and Mastercard suspend business in Russia
03/06/2022, 02:11 am
US credit giants Mastercard and Visa are pulling out of Russia over the attack on Ukraine. In doing so, they are responding to a demand from the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Russian banks are trying to downplay the move.
After numerous other Western companies, the US credit giants Mastercard and Visa are also suspending their business in Russia because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Given the “unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment,” Mastercard has decided to “suspend our network services in Russia for the time being,” the company said. Visa CEO Al Kelly said the company felt compelled to act after “Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”
Visa said it will be working with its “clients and partners in Russia to halt all Visa transactions over the coming days, effective immediately.” Cards issued in Russia would no longer work outside the country. Credit cards issued by foreign banks could no longer be used in Russia. Mastercard made a similar statement.
Both Visa and Mastercard had previously said they would comply with sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other Western countries. The Russian banking sector is particularly affected by the western sanctions.
Russian banks tried to downplay the impact of Mastercard and Visa’s announcements on Russian customers. “All Visa and Mastercard bank cards issued by Russian banks will function normally on Russian territory until their expiration date,” the Central Bank of Russia said. However, Russians traveling abroad needed alternative means of payment.
Sberbank wrote in its official Telegram messenger channel that the cards could still be used on Russian territory “to withdraw money, make transfers using the card number and to pay in Russian offline and online shops”.
Zelenskyj’s demand
During a video conference with members of the US Congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the suspension of Mastercard and Visa operations in Russia. According to parliamentarians, because of the Russian invasion of his country, Zelenskyy appealed to the West to impose an import ban on Russian gas and oil.
The West has imposed tough sanctions on Russia over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The country’s banking sector and airlines are among those affected. Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin and other government officials and oligarchs are also on the sanctions lists of the EU, Great Britain and the USA.
Since the invasion of Ukraine began ten days ago, numerous international companies have halted their business in Russia, including the chip maker Intel, the housing broker Airbnb and French luxury brands such as Hermès and Chanel.