Visa, Mastercard and PayPal Suspend Operations in Russia

Three of the largest financial companies in the world, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, suspended their services in Russian territory. This comes as a financial sanction imposed on Russia as the country invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The information was released by each of these companies in a press release a few hours ago. 

Visa, Mastercard and PayPal Stop Operating in Russia

Financial sanctions continue to hit Russia as the country moved forward with its invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24, 2022. Visa, Mastercard and PayPal are concerned about the situation and prefer to leave the country as many other companies in recent days. 

“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. 

“Noting the unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment – we have decided to suspend our network services in Russia,” reads the official statement released by Mastercard. 

Visa’s chairman and CEO know that this decision will have a deeply negative impact on clients in Russia. However, they decided to act in line with their values. Meanwhile, Mastercard informed that they are also working with governments and partners all around the world in order to ensure that the stability, integrity and resiliency of their systems continue to guide their operations. 

These are not the first companies that are leaving the Russian market. Indeed, many others have already done so in the past. The economic sanctions that the whole world is imposing to Russia could help the country move on the contrary direction and stop the war in Ukraine.

Since the conflict started, close to 1.3 million people have left Ukraine. Most people moved to Poland due to the easy access to this country. In some cases, Poland is the first country used by Ukrainians to move forwards on their journey. 

People from all over the world have been sending financial and non-financial support to Ukraine in order to help with the fight against Russia. As UseTheBitcoin reported a few days ago, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine surpassed $50 million. This shows that the entire world is ready to help Ukrainians against Russian aggression. 

The next days are going to be very important for this conflict. Russian forces seemed to have stopped their progress and this could give some time to Ukrainians to get back some cities and villages.