Final International Payment System UnionPay Withdraws from Russia
(21 April 2022 – Europe) The last international payment system available in Russia, UnionPay, has refused to cooperate with major Russian Banks fearing sanctions and further consequences.
The Chinese payment system UnionPay refused to cooperate with Sberbank and will not issue its cards, also ceasing services to other institutions such as Alfa Bank, VTB, Otkrytie and Promsvyazbank. UnionPay rapidly increased in popularity in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine after Visa, Mastercard and Japanese network JCB halted operations citing opposition to the war. The cards of these systems, issued by Russian banks, stopped working abroad and consumers can no longer settle purchases online using the cards.
UnionPay was the only international system left in Russia albeit accounting for a mere one percent of cards in circulation as of 2020 according to RBR. Of the nine billion UnionPay cards in circulation, representing half of the global total of bank cards with two billion more than Mastercard and Visa combined, only 150 million are issued outside mainland China. The group withdrew due to fears of retribution from the USA and other countries imposing economic sanctions despite China refusing to join Western sanctions placed on Russia, deeming them counterproductive to the peace process.
“Russian banks that have found themselves scrabbling may not give the US networks another chance. In the long term, they may say once bitten, twice shy. They may not switch back even if they become an option again” commented Verto CEO Ola Oyetayo.
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