Changes to the acceptance of Russian issued credit and debit cards

With the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the financial sanctions imposed on Russia by various national governments and regulatory authorities, Card Schemes have implemented a number of changes, detailed below.

Summary of changes

Visa has suspended Russian operations

  • All transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country
  • Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation

Read the full statement of Visa suspending all Russian operations

Mastercard has suspended Russian operations

Cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by the Mastercard network, whether they are used inside or outside of Russia.

Any Mastercard issued outside of the country will not work at Russian merchants or ATMs.

Read the full Mastercard statement on suspension of Russian operations

American Express has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus

  • Cards will no longer work at merchants or ATMs in Russia
  • Cards issued locally in Russia by Russian banks will no longer work outside of the country on the American Express global network
  • All business operations in Belarus have been suspended

Read the full American Express statement on suspending operations in Russia and Belarus

JCB has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus

  • JCB cards issued in Russia will no longer be supported outside the country
  • JCB cards issued outside of Russia will no longer be supported within the Russian Federation.

Read the full JCB statement on suspension of Russian operations

Next steps

These changes will be implemented by the Card Schemes and you won’t need to do anything.

Help and support

We will endeavour to keep you informed on any other changes implemented by these and other Card Schemes. However, if you have any further queries, please contact the Cardnet Helpdesk on 01268 567 100, online or speak to your Relationship Manager.