Russia, Ukraine It was subjected to serious sanctions after the invasion and still remains.
PayPal recently announced that it would stop all transactions in Russia, and there was a huge backlash from Russian civilians. Now both Visa and MasterCard takes a similar step.
Visa and Mastercard also joined the convoy
Visa for the first time Russia stated that it will no longer suspend the transactions in it and will not support them. Mastercard, on the other hand, is stopping all its services within Russia.
Visa has ceased all operations in Russia. Visa credit cards received in Russia cannot be used abroad.#Bitcoin
— Bitcoin System (@bitcoinsystem) March 5, 2022
In the statement made by Visa, it was emphasized that when this process is completed, Visa cards in Russia will not work in any way and Visa cards of citizens from countries other than Russia will not work in Russia.
Mastercard made a similar statement and stated that in addition to blocking Russian financial institutions, it will also block all cards issued by Russian banks and stop transactions. Cards issued by banks outside Russia will also not be able to be used in stores or ATMs within Russia.
After the news of PayPal, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Fedorov sent a tweet thanking PayPal CEO and many civilians reacted to it.
Looking at the responses under the tweet, it is seen that especially freelancers can no longer reach their income abroad and it is stated that they are not the culprit.
We received a letter from @Dan_Schulman, CEO PayPal. So now it’s official: PayPal shuts down its services in Russia citing Ukraine aggression. Thank you @PayPal for your supporting! Hope that soon you will open it in for 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/RaJxEMSLQe
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 5, 2022
For now, the only thing left in the hands of freelancers in Russia seems to be cryptocurrencies. It is still possible to pay with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but it is not known how long this will remain so.