Visa, Mastercard suspend operations in Russia over Ukraine invasion

Reuters

March 5 (Reuters) – U.S. payments firms Visa Inc (V.N)and Mastercard Inc on Saturday said they were suspending operations in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine and that they would work with their clients and partners to cease all transactions in the country.

Within days, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued within Russia will no longer work outside of the country and any Visa cards issued outside of Russia will no longer work within the country, the company said.

“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” Al Kelly, chief executive officer of Visa, said in a statement.

“We regret 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 ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values.”

Mastercard said its cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by Mastercard networks, and any company’s card issued outside of Russia will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.

Mastercard said it decided to suspend its network services in Russia following its recent action to block multiple Russian financial institutions from the company’s payment network, as required by regulators globally.

Visa also said this week it blocked multiple Russian financial institutions from its network in compliance with government sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tass news reported that Sberbank Rossii PAO (SBER.MM), Russia’s largest lender, said sanctions announced by Visa Inc (V.N) and Mastercard Inc would not affect users of the cards it issues in Russia.

Reporting by John McCrank in New York and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru Editing by Paul Simao and David Gregorio