American payment firms Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc have suspend their operations in Russia over Ukraine Invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden, in a call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, welcomed Visa’s and Mastercard’s decisions to suspend their operations in Russia.
The move by the payments firms could mean more disruption for Russians who are bracing for an uncertain future of spiraling inflation, economic hardship and an even sharper squeeze on imported goods
Russia has been taking steps to increase the independence of its financial system for years, particularly after ties with the West deteriorated over the country’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Sberbank Rossii PAO, Russia’s largest lender, said the moves by Visa and Mastercard would not affect users of the cards it issues in Russia, Tass news reported.
Sberbank said its customers would be able to withdraw cash, make transfers, pay both in offline stores and Russian internet stores because transactions in Russia pass through the domestic National Payment Card System which does not depend on foreign payment systems, according to Tass.