Visa and MasterCard have suspended their operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
“We will continue to work with regulators in the days ahead to abide fully by our compliance obligations as they evolve,” MasterCard said.
Russian media reports that tourists abroad cannot pay with their cards in shops and hotels, or withdraw cash from ATMs.
“We are vacationing in Turkey, we have not been able to pay in stores with a card for several days, or withdraw money from an ATM too. It’s good that we took enough dollars with us,” said Maria Zaikova, a tourist from Moscow.
The cards issued by VTB Group, Sovcombank , Novikombank and Promsvyazbank no longer work. Apple Pay and Google Pay have also stoped functioning for Russians at home or abroad.
In addition stringent capital controls came into force on Monday with Russians prohibited from transferring more than $10,000 abroad.
The ruble further fell however another 20% to above 120 per dollar in the official rate which some say is not accessible to the public.
The measures “are unlikely to stabilize the situation, which depends on powerful factors that go beyond regulation,” the Chief Analyst at TeleTrade Mark Goykhman says before adding:
“Further developments will be determined by geopolitics, hostilities, sanctions, financial market sentiment, prices and volumes of exports and imports, internal investment conditions and production.”
Numerous companies are exiting the country as the invasion of Ukraine continues, including some of the world’s biggest shipping companies, as well as DHL, Eni, ExxonMobil and Boeing.
Long bank queues are now reported in Russia amid the falling value of the ruble, concerns that their cards might stop working, and even worries that their deposits might be seized.
That’s while EU announced today that seven Russian banks have been excluded from SWIFT, including VTB Bank as well as Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sovcombank and VEB (Vnesheconombank), effective immediately.
Source: https://www.trustnodes.com/2022/03/02/bitcoin-rises-as-visa-and-mastercard-shun-russia-amid-capital-controls-and-long-bank-queues-in-moscow