On March 5, Visa and Mastercard announced they will suspend operations in Russia, the latest U.S. companies to stop doing business in that country over the Ukrainian invasion.
Noting the unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment, We have decided to suspend our network services in Russia.
Mastercard
Visa, for its part, announced that it would stop all Visa transactions in Russia “effective immediately.”
The United States president, Joe Biden, expressed his “welcome” for the decision during a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, where they discussed the policies of the United States, allies, and the private sector to deter Russian aggression, according to a White House statement.
Since Russia’s invasion began on February 24, major corporations across a range of industries have halted operations in the country, from U.S. tech giants such as Intel and Airbnb to French luxury brands LVMH, Hermes and Chanel.
After the Russian attack, Visa and Mastercard had already announced compliance with international and US sanctions.
“Our colleagues, our customers and our partners have been affected in ways that most of us could not imagine,” Mastercard said, stating that its cards issued by Russian banks would no longer be supported by the company’s network.
Similarly, Visa announced that cards issued in Russia will not work outside of that country. According to both companies, cards issued abroad will no longer be supported in Russia.
The public has consistently urged companies to suspend their operations in Russia, due to its invasion of the country. Despite numerous appeals from Ukrainian officials and lawmakers elsewhere, crypto companies have by and large resisted international calls for unilaterally blocking all Russian residents.
According to Jesse Powell, CEO of crypto exchange Kraken, his company would abide by Ukrainian laws if legally compelled to do so (his exchange was not the one the Ukrainian government had specifically requested). Ukrainian authorities have asked Coinbase, Binance, Huobi, KuCoin, Bybit, Gate.io, Whitebit and Ukraine’s Kuna to block all Russian accounts.
Operations on them are processed within the country in the National Payment Card System, and sanctions do not affect them, Customer funds on accounts linked to such cards are fully preserved and available.
Central Bank of Russia
In a statement released after the credit card processors announced their suspension of services, Russia’s central bank stated that Visa and Mastercard cards will continue to work in Russia.
