China deals major blow to Russia with payments ban
www.newsweek.com
UnionPay cards linked to the Huawei Pay service have stopped working in Russia, local media has reported.

Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/9474563

UnionPay was widely touted as China’s rescue operation to Russia after Visa, Mastercard and American Express suspended operations in Russia over the war in Ukraine and SWIFT was blocked. It became one of the only methods Russians could use to make payments abroad.

Now UnionPay cards linked to the Huawei Pay service have stopped working in Russia, local news portal 66.ru reported on Tuesday, citing users who say they have been unable to make payments. The Moscow Times said that the restrictions may be the result of U.S. sanctions against Russia’s National Payment Card System (NSPK), which processes all UnionPay card transactions in the country.

    • Chup@feddit.deEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      Besides the title statement, China hasn’t done anything. In the article text, they get more into detail and it’s the Western sanctions leading to individual companies stopping their services for Russians. Companies don’t want to get dragged into Western sanctions themselves, so they stop their business with/in Russia.

      Article quotes:

      News portal 66.ru reported that while payment by physical UnionPay cards appears to work as usual, the same cards linked to the Huawei Pay service are refused in Russia.

      The decision was made by Chinese banks Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of China due to the “risks of secondary sanctions” from the United States,