Vikrant Shekhawat : Mar 06, 2022, 08:39 AM
Business | Visa Inc. (Visa Inc.) and Mastercard Inc. (Mastercard Inc.) has closed all transactions in Russia. The move comes as part of the isolation of Ukraine's economy from the international community following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion. Within minutes on Saturday, separate statements were issued from both sides regarding this. Visa cited Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and unacceptable incidents, while MasterCard cited the unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment.Both companies get about 4% of their net revenues from business related to Russia. In fact, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to stop all businesses in Russia during a video call with US lawmakers, hours after which this decision was taken. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, tweeted after the call that he agreed with the Ukrainian leader.What will be the impact of Visa and Mastercard's decisionVisa and Mastercard said that any transactions with their cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country, while any cards issued outside Russia will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs. Visa said that consumers in Russia who have a card issued in that country can still pay for goods and services there, but the company will not process the transaction. It will be under Russia's National Payment Card System, or NSPK.Visa and Mastercard products issued from Russian banks will workThe Russian central bank said in a statement that the Visa and MasterCard products issued by Russian banks will continue to operate until they expire. At the same time, Ukrainian official Davyd Arkhamia has told that the next round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held on Monday. Arkhamia is the head of the parliamentary party of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party and a member of the country's delegation for talks with Russia.