Kseniia Bilash
International payment systems Visa and Mastercard have announced the termination of their activities in Russia. This was reported by Interfax with reference to the press services of the companies.
Visa said the decision has become effective. It will take the company a few days to stop all transactions. When it is done, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer operate outside the country. Any Visa cards issued by banks outside the Russian Federation will no longer work in the Russian Federation.
"We are forced to act after Russia's unwarranted invasion of Ukraine and the unacceptable events we have witnessed," said El Kelly, chairman and CEO of Visa Inc. "We regret the impact this decision will have on our colleagues, customers, partners, and cardholders we have in Russia, but this war and the threat to peace require that we act in accordance with our values."
Mastercard also stated that cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by the Mastercard network. Any cards issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs.
Earlier, the Chairman of Parliament of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, asked to block all Visa and Mastercard payments both in Russia and abroad on all, without exception, cards issued in Russia and by Russian banks outside Russia. In his appeal, Stefanchuk emphasized that "by continuing to allow and process transactions in Russia, you support the financing of Russian war crimes, that is now brutally killing Ukrainians, and committing genocide against our people."