Several Russian banks have announced that they will soon begin issuing cards using the Chinese UnionPay card operating system, to which the Russian Mir network will join.
Russian banks decided to switch to the Chinese payment system after Visa and MasterCard announced the suspension of their operations in Russia. Visa and MasterCard continue to operate locally, but cannot be purchased abroad. Visa and MasterCard cards issued abroad do not work in Russia either.
The move to UnionPay was announced on Sunday by Sberbank, Russia’s largest creditor, and MKB and Tinkoff, the Russian subsidiary of Alfa Bank, Raiffeissen Bank. Roszszelhozbank, Pocsta Bank, Gazprombank, Sankt-Petyerburg Bank, Promsvyazbank, VBRD, Primszocbank, Zenit and Sovkombank have used the system so far.
UnionPay is an international payment system that was founded in 2002 and became international in 2005. It can be used for payment in 180 countries, including Hungary, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Cyprus, Thailand, India, Israel, Portugal, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, and Austria.
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