U.S. payment companies, Visa and Mastercard have suspended their operations in Russia, to further isolate it over the invasion of Ukraine.
Mastercard in a statement on Saturday cited the “unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment.”
“Our colleagues, our customers and our partners have been affected in ways that most of us could not imagine,” its statement said.
“This decision flows from our recent action to block multiple financial institutions from the Mastercard payment network, as required by regulators globally.”
Mastercard, which has operated in Russia for more than 25 years, said “cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by the Mastercard network.”
The credit card company, which said it has nearly 200 employees in Russia, added “any Mastercard issued outside of the country will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.”
Visa said it plans to work with its clients and partners within Russia to suspend all Visa transactions and operations in the country, according to a statement also issued Saturday.
Visa said in the coming days “all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation.”
“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” said Visa Chairman and CEO Al Kelly.
“We regret the impact this will have on our valued colleagues, and on the clients, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia. This war and the ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values.”
TASS news reported that Sberbank Rossii PAO, Russia’s largest lender, said sanctions announced by Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc would not affect users of the cards it issues in Russia.
CNN/Reuters
