Who will be affected by the termination of Visa and MasterCard

As Novye Izvestia has already reported, the world's most popular payment systems Visa and MasterCard will be inaccessible to Russian citizens. British analyst Natalia Nesbitt explains in detail what awaits us all in the near future:

“I quickly explain on the cards so that only those who need it go crazy. Please take into account that the information appeared only at 0.00 GMT, it is very fresh, and some inaccuracies are possible.

What happened?

Visa and MasterCard have disabled Russian users. Yes, this is also part of the sanctions.

Who is affected?

Everyone who has Visa or MasterCard written on their card, if your card is issued by a Russian bank (or non-Russian, provided that you are physically in Russia). Whether your bank (Sberbank, VTB) is under sanctions or not yet (Alfa, Tinkov) does not matter.

If your card is not issued by a Russian bank and you are not in Russia, then you have nothing to worry about. There is no need to read further, because everything is left exactly as it was, and no one touches you.

Has the money disappeared from the card?

No, they didn't. Those. your bank or inflation or something else can destroy them, but disconnecting from payment systems in itself does not mean a loss of funds.

How much the cardholders are affected?

The Russian Central Bank said the shutdown would not affect the ability of Russian users to use the cards within Russia. Those. they can still be used to pay for purchases or to withdraw money from an ATM.

This is confirmed by the statements of the payment systems themselves, although Visa is clearer than MasterCard (maybe they just have PR in different ways).

It is no longer possible to reissue Visa and MasterCard. Your card in Russia will work for domestic payments until its expiration date. Then you will have WORLD.

What can't be done now?

No international card payments via Visa and MasterCard are strictly possible. Here are none at all.

If you are now outside of Russia, then the card in your pocket, provided that it is issued by any Russian bank (and without reference to how much money you have in your account) is just a piece of plastic. You don’t even have to poke it into an ATM - it just chews it up, but you probably want to keep it as a keepsake.

If you are in (!) Russia, then exactly the same thing will happen to your card issued abroad. It is completely useless, at least for payment. Leave hostile territory - and it will work again.

Any online payments work ONLY on the condition that the money does not cross the borders of Russia. If your online store is not in the Russian Federation, then you cannot buy anything.

Who feels bad now due to this?

If you live in the Russian Federation and used the card to a limited extent, for example, to withdraw money once a month and occasionally pay for purchases in physical stores, then you won’t notice anything special.

At the other extreme are those who are now outside the globe that issued your map. Those. if you come to Russia to see relatives, you can rely solely on their generosity and cash is already in your pocket - you can’t make any more calculations. A Russian tourist in Egypt got exactly the same.

Those who have left in the last few days, when Russia has imposed severe restrictions on the export of foreign currency, have been hit especially hard. Everyone, do not waste time, look for work or local philanthropists. I understand that you were going to pay with the card, but now this possibility has been cut off completely.

Everyone who counted on income coming from another country got into it. If you live on income from renting Moscow real estate in Thailand, then you no longer have income. If you live in Brazil, but regularly transfer money to your mother in Tver, then your mother can now rely only on her pension. If you have orders / remote work to / from Russia, it is no longer there.

Is there an alternative?

It's pointless to ask me. I do not know. We have friends in Russia who did not have time to leave. Yesterday afternoon, they could still send Western Union. But that was yesterday, and here everything is developing at the speed of a dive bomber.

Perhaps very small (in the same WU there are limits on the amount or total annual payment) transfers will remain. But I won’t bet a penny on it right now - today I have it, tomorrow I don’t. (Actually, no longer - ed.)

What to do?

If you ended up in Russia temporarily and by accident and you have serious reasons to leave it (passport of another state), then without funds, quickly go to your embassy, you may be able to be evacuated. Do not delay and get ready for a long queue, you will not be alone there.

But there is no personal decision. Payment systems in the process of shutdown. This process for someone can happen instantly, and for someone (depending on the bank) it will take several days - Visa says that everything will be completely cut down within 72 hours. This also applies to payments already made. The process of transferring funds from bank to bank is not instantaneous, and for someone today's payment will pass, but for someone it will freeze. Tomorrow's payment will not go through with anyone.

In general, this is a strong move. It is stronger than both Faust and SWIFT.