Visa and Mastercard suspend operations in Russia

Payment firms say cards issued outside Russia will no longer work within the country

Mastercard and Visa are suspending their operations in Russia in the latest blow to the country's financial system after its invasion of Ukraine. AP.

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US payments firms Visa and Mastercard 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 the 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, an any the company's card issued outside of the 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.

Sberbank said in a statement on its official Telegram account that the cards "can be used for operations in the Russian territory -- to withdraw cash, make transfers using the card number, and for payment at offline as well as at online Russian stores."

The cards would continue to work on Russian territory, it said, because all payments in Russia are made through a national system and do not depend on foreign systems.

However, the central bank warned that Russians traveling abroad should carry alternate means of payment.

Mastercard added that it would continue to provide pay and benefits to its nearly 200 employees in Russia.