BBC reported on the 6th (local time) that credit card companies such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have announced that they will suspend operations in Russia to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, major banks in Russia underestimate that the impact on Russian consumers is not significant because Russian consumers can use the card in Russia until the expiration date of the already issued card is over.
However, visas, master cards, and American Express cards issued overseas are no longer available in Russian stores or ATMs. In addition, Russians cannot pay with these credit cards overseas.
Visa and MasterCard alone account for about 90% of credit and debit payments worldwide, excluding China.
Earlier, Russia’s central bank said all visas and mastercards issued by Russian banks can continue to be used normally in Russia. Domestic payments in Russia are made through the national system and do not rely on foreign systems.
Sverbank, Russia’s largest state-run bank, said its card still “can withdraw cash, transfer money using card numbers, and pay offline as well as online stores in Russia.”
Since 2015, the Russian government has demanded that all domestic payment transactions be processed there. This was due to similar suspension of operation by Visa Card and Master Card after the merger of Krumban Peninsula.
Several Russian banks said they would start issuing cards using China’s Silver Federation payment system with Russia’s Mir payment network to avoid consumer shocks.
Meanwhile, independent journalist Farida Rustamova, who left Russia against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, accused the decision of Visa and MasterCard of blocking people like her from accessing essential funds..
