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Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday March 6, 2022, p. 4
New York. Credit card companies Visa and Mastercard announced yesterday the suspension of their operations in Russia, the latest major US firms to freeze business with Moscow over its military incursion into Ukraine.
Mastercard indicated that it decided suspend our network services in Russia, given the unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment
. Visa indicated that it will work immediate
with your customers and partners within Russia to stop all your transactions in the coming days.
Russian Visa and Mastercard bank cards will no longer work abroad, while those issued abroad will no longer work in Russia, both US groups said.
In recent days, Visa and Mastercard, as well as their competitor American Express, took measures to prevent Russian banks from using their networks, in application of international sanctions decided after Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine.
They will continue to work, they say in Moscow
Russia’s largest banks, including Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, and the Central Bank, dismissed the effect of the measures on their customers. All Visa and Mastercard bank cards issued by Russian banks will continue to function normally on Russian territory until their expiration date.
indicated the Central Bank.
Sberbank reported that the plastics “can be used for operations on Russian territory, cash withdrawals, making transfers using the card number and payments in Russian stores, both on-line What offline”.
They will continue to operate on Russian soil because all payments in Russia are made with a national system and do not depend on foreign systems, the bank said in a statement released on its official Telegram account.
However, the Central Bank warned that Russians traveling outside the country should consider alternative payment methods.
Mastercard indicated that it will continue to pay and provide benefits to its almost 200 employees in Russia.
The Italian government announced yesterday that it has frozen assets of Russian oligarchs in the country worth 140 million euros ($153 million), including the yachts seized since Friday. Meanwhile, more than 500 Russian individuals or entities were subject to European sanctions.
The states of Europe seize assets and economic resources as they locate them and manage to relate them to their owners.
