Visa and Mastercard both announced on Saturday that they will no longer work with Russia due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” said Al Kelly, chairman, and chief executive officer of Visa Inc.
“We don’t take this decision lightly,” Mastercard said in a statement. “This decision flows from our recent action to block multiple financial institutions from the Mastercard payment network, as required by regulators globally.”
Both companies said that cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported and that any cards issued outside of the country will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.
