MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – Russia’s largest bank – Sberbank – wants to ensure that people can pay with their cards and withdraw money even after the deactivation of Visa and MasterCard credit cards. But those who live abroad should now quickly withdraw money with the cards or pay for larger expenses before the systems stop working, the bank said on Sunday. According to the information, the money cards with the Mir logo should continue to work in Turkey, Cyprus and some other countries. Mir is a payment system of the Central Bank of Russia.
The shutdown of Visa and Mastercard will also have no effect on payments within Russia in shops, online trade or transfers, Sberbank said. The banking business could be done independently of the international systems, it said. Payments abroad would be “restricted”. The bank has not yet been subject to sanctions.
The world’s two largest credit card providers, Visa and Mastercard, are suspending their business in Russia because of Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The process should take a few days. After that, cards issued in Russia would no longer work abroad. Credit cards issued by financial institutions outside the country could then no longer be used in Russia, it said.
Because of the Western sanctions against several Russian banks, it has been impossible for days to withdraw rubles from these institutions with foreign credit cards. Long queues had sometimes formed at the machines that were still working. Many people also waited at bank counters to stock up on cash – or to close their accounts.
Russia’s central bank has repeatedly announced that the situation is under control, ATMs will continue to be filled with money, and deposits in the accounts are secured. The ruble has depreciated massively against other currencies./mau/DP/nas
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