American credit card providers Mastercard and Visa announced late on Saturday that they would suspend their services in Russia after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks are being phased out, and Mastercard cards issued elsewhere will not work at ATMs in Russia. Visa stops all transactions with Visa cards issued in Russia outside of Russia, and all Visa cards issued by banks outside of Russia will no longer work within the country.
“We’re not taking this decision lightly,” Mastercard said in one statement, adding that it has been operating in Russia for 25 years and employs over 200 people in the country. “When appropriate and permitted by law, we will leverage their passion and creativity to work to restore operations,” it said.
“This war and the continuing threats to peace and stability require that we respond in accordance with our values,” said Al Kelly, Visa Inc.’s chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement statement.
https://www.politico.eu/article/mastercard-visa-stop-services-in-russia/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication Mastercard, Visa stop services in Russia – POLITICO
