As a result of sanctions imposed on Russian banks, US payment systems Mastercard and Visa have blocked several Russian financial institutions from their network.

This was reported by Reuters.

On Monday, Visa said it was taking prompt action to enforce the sanctions, adding that it would donate $ 2 million to humanitarian aid. Mastercard also promised to contribute $ 2 million.

The US government’s sanctions require Visa to suspend access to its network for organizations on the sanctions list. Earlier, the United States added to the list a number of financial companies in Russia, including the central bank and the second largest VTB.

Now the cards issued by these banks will stop working abroad and in foreign online stores. They will operate only in Russia. 

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the NBU called on Visa and Mastercard to stop servicing cards issued by Russian banks.

It will be recalled that the European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions that have frozen part of the Central Bank’s reserves. Switzerland decided to join EU sanctions on Monday. 

According to analysts, the disconnection of a number of banks from SWIFT will result in extremely unpleasant consequences, especially for ordinary Russians: people will experience a shortage of goods.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war with Ukraine on February 24. Russian troops fire on and destroy key infrastructure, missiles hit residential buildings. Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. 

(C)CENSOR NET 2022