Russians can still use Visa and Mastercard for domestic purchases, authorities say

theguardian.com:

Consumers will still be able to use Mastercard and Visa-branded cards for domestic purchases in Russia, the country’s state-backed payments network has said, reducing the impact of the US firms’ decision to pull services over the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s homegrown payments system Mir said the cardholders would still be able to access their funds, make withdrawals and domestic transfers – at least until their bank cards expire.

Mir has processed most domestic payments in Russia since 2015, while foreign operators such as Visa and Mastercard continued to run international transactions. The operator – which is 100% owned by the country’s central bank – was established on government orders to protect the economy against sanctions imposed over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

“All cards of these payment systems already issued by Russian banks will continue to work within our country as before,” Mir’s operator said in the early hours of Sunday.

“Until the expiration of their validity, Visa and Mastercard cardholders have access to all the funds on their accounts, as well as all the usual payment transactions — paying for purchases, transferring funds from card to card, withdrawing cash, etc.”

The statement was issued shortly after the US firms declared on Saturday they would be suspending Russian operations in light of Moscow’s continued military assault on Ukraine.

Both Mastercard and Visa’s decision to suspend their Russian operations will primarily impact foreign payments, meaning local consumers will no longer be able to use their Russian cards abroad or for international payments online. Foreign customers will also be blocked from making payments to Russian companies or withdrawing cash within the country.

“Payments