Visa international payment system stopped serving the payment transactions of four Russian banks. It undertook this measure in accordance with U.S legislation after the introduction of sanctions, Visa told Prime agency.
In response to Crimea's joining the Russian Federation, the U.S. authorities imposed sanctions on 20 Russians, as well as against bank "Russia". The new list included the main owner of this bank Yuri Kovalchuk, Boris and Arkady Rotenberg, owning SMP Bank.
Afterwards, Visa and MasterCard international payment systems stopped conducting payment transactions for customers of these two banks without any notice.
"The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions against some Russian physical entities and organizations," Visa official representative in Russia said. "Visa International Service Association must suspend access to the Visa network for such organizations to comply with the U.S. legislation."
He added that as of March 21, 2014, besides 'Russia' and SMP banks, a list of these organizations includes Sobinbank and InvestCapitalBank. The last two are included in a group of bank "Russia".
The agency does not yet have MasterCard's official comments.
Translated by NH
Edited by CN