China's Unionpay Suspends Operations in Russia

​China's UnionPay has reportedly become the latest financial services network to halt operations in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Payment giants Visa, Mastercard and American Express have already shut down operations in Russia to comply with US sanctions.

As reported, UnionPay is concerned about facing sanctions from the US and other countries if it works with sanctioned Russian banks. Such sanctions may include prohibitions against doing business with US individuals and firms, as well as against importing or exporting goods to or from the US.

Launched in 2002, UnionPay is a state-led financial services network operated by the PBOC (People's Bank of China). It is the world's second-largest card brand with a 32 percent market share.

Last month, it was reported that Russian banks were looking to use UnionPay to issue bank cards to customers. However, Russian media reported last week that UnionPay has halted negotiations with Russian banks on issuing new bank cards for their customers, who are unable to make purchases outside Russia due to Visa's and Mastercard's withdrawal.

Russians will still be able to use UnionPay cards to make domestic purchases, as the payments go through the domestic Mir network, which was set up in 2014 in response to sanctions imposed over the annexation of Crimea.

Source: Regulation Asia