Visa, Mastercard pull out of Russia

The payments giants Visa and Mastercard have announced that they are pulling out of the Russian market in protest at what Visa's CEO called "Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine".

Visa said in a statement that it would cut off transactions “over the coming days” and consequently cards issued in Russia would not work abroad as well as foreign issued cards in Russia.

Alfred Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of the US-based digital payments company, said: “We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed.

“We regret the impact this will have on our valued colleagues, and on the clients, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia.

“This war and the ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values.”Mastercard issued a similar ban, stating that cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network.The US-based company added that any Mastercard issued outside the country would not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.