Visa and Mastercard suspend operations in Russia due to Ukraine invasion

Visa and Mastercard announced Saturday the suspension of its operations in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army on February 24.

Mastercard said in a statement that it has decided to suspend its network services in Russia after witnessing the “shocking and devastating events resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.

The company stresses that given the “unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment, we have decided to suspend our network services in Russia”.

This decision follows its recent action to block multiple financial institutions from Mastercard’s payment network, as required by regulators globally.

Visa, Mastercard to suspend operations in Russia https://t.co/sJlodT0Oxo via @AJEnglish. @ABAInternatl

— Nancy Kaymar 🇺🇦 Stafford (@nancykaymar) March 6, 2022

“With this action, cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be compatible with the Mastercard network. And any Mastercard issued outside the country will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs,” the company insists.

For its part, Visa announced in a separate statement that effective immediately, it will work with its customers and partners within Russia to suspend all Visa transactions in the coming days.

Once completed, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation.

“We are compelled to act in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the unacceptable events we have witnessed,” said Al Kelly, Visa’s president and CEO.

-Thailand News (TN)