Visa and MasterCard still do not fully operate in Crimea due to banks’ fear of the West
In Crimea, large Russian banks could have resumed full operation of the international payment systems Visa and MasterCard long ago, but financial institutions are still afraid of Western sanctions.
The Russian magazine Dengi writes about this with reference to its own sources.
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According to the publication, such a technical possibility exists - for this it is necessary that a large Russian bank, which already works with international payment systems, begin issuing bank cards in Crimea.
“If some multi-branch Russian bank starts acquiring in Crimea, no one will stop it. The request to the issuing bank will come from its processing center in Moscow, St. Petersburg or, for example, Blagoveshchensk. And if a legal entity that owns a store or restaurant in Crimea is registered, say, in the Rostov region or Krasnodar region, you won’t find fault with such a transaction at all,” the publication notes.
However, not a single large Russian bank wants to do this because they are afraid of sanctions from the EU and the US.
“Credit organizations do not want to tease the United States and the European Union, so as not to fall under serious sanctions. Yes, Sberbank, VTB and a number of other state-owned banks are already subject to EU sectoral sanctions, according to which EU organizations and citizens cannot buy their shares, bonds and other securities. But these restrictions do not apply to loans and deposits. So banks have something to lose,” Dengi adds.
English version :: Read in English Visa and MasterCard still don't work fully in Crimea due to banks' fear of the West.