People stand in line to withdraw money from an ATM in Sberbank in St. Petersburg
(Picture: AP)Visa and Mastercard have announced they will suspend operations in Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine.
In a statement, Visa said it would cut off transactions “over the coming months” and that cards issued in Russia would not work abroad.
Foreign issued cards in Russia will also not work, the firm said.
Alfred Kelly, 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 said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by its network and any Mastercard issued outside the country will not work at Russian stores or ATMs.
"We don’t take this decision lightly," Mastercard said in a statement, adding that it made the move after discussions with customers, partners and governments.
The suspensions were announced within 16 minutes of each other on Saturday night and followed a private call between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and US lawmakers.
It comes amid a wave of financial sanctions brought by western countries against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. The war, which began on February 24, has wrecked devastation on major cities and reportedly caused thousands of civilian casualties.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the value of the Russian currency, the ruble, has plunged by more than a third to a record low as the effect of the sanctions takes hold.
Russian banks have already been banned from the Swift international payments system, while PayPal on Saturday announced it would be suspended in the country.
US President Biden welcomed the decision by Mastercard and Visa during a call with President Zelenskyy.
"President Biden noted his administration is surging security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine and is working closely with Congress to secure additional funding," a White House readout of the call added.
