Visa and MasterCard are banned in Russia.
US payment giants Visa and MasterCard have announced that they have suspended operations in Russia due to the latter’s military aggression in Ukraine.
Visa said in a statement that it would suspend transactions “in the coming days” and that as a result, cards issued in Russia would not work abroad, as would foreign cards issued in Russia.
The chief executive of the digital payment company, Alfred Kelly, said they were forced to do so after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
“We are sorry for 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 constant threat to peace and stability requires that we respond in accordance with our values.”
MasterCard also issued a similar announcement, stating that cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network.
The company added that any card issued abroad will not work in Russia.
“For more than a week, the world has seen the shocking and devastating events that resulted from the Russian invasion of Ukraine”
“Our colleagues, our clients and our partners have been affected in various ways that most of us could not have imagined,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian government had first called on financial companies to suspend their operations in Russia.