PRESS: Visa, MasterCard may leave Russian market soon

MOSCOW, Jul 12 (PRIME) -- Large international payment systems , including Visa and MasterCard, may leave the Russian market due to amendments to the national payment system bill that will be considered by the parliament soon, Kommersant business daily reported Friday.

The amendments to be considered by the parliament’s lower chamber State Duma on July 23 support the Russian central bank and should ensure the continuity of card payments in Russia. In fact, Russian subsidiaries of international payment systems will be prohibited from suspending settlements on cards of banks hit by the sanctions.

The amendments will affect international payment systems whose subsidiaries are registered at the central bank, in particular, Visa, MasterCard, China Union Pay, and JCB.

If the bill is adopted, they will be forbidden to enter “criteria for suspension, termination of participation in the payment system at the initiative of the payment system operator, associated respectively with suspension, termination of participation in the foreign payment system.”

Payment systems will be given six months to start working under new rules, the daily said. After that, suspension of settlements of some bank because of the sanctions will be considered a violation. If it is not eliminated, the central bank will exclude the company from the register of payment system operators, which will mean a ban on operations in Russia.

According to Kommersant, Russian subsidiaries of Visa and MasterCard will not be able to bring their rules in compliance with the new requirements, as they have not a right not to fulfill a ruling of their head organization.

Visa and MasterCard will have a possibility to stay on the Russian market as operators of “foreign payment systems,” the name introduced by the amendments to the bill. But experts believe that these companies will just wind down their business in Russia.

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