Sub-sanctioned banks warned of the risk of shutting down UnionPay abroad

Union Pay cards from Russian banks that have fallen under the new package of sanctions may stop working abroad. Credit institutions recommend withdrawing cash to their holders abroad.

Chinese payment system UnionPay cards issued by banks subject to new US and UK sanctions may stop working abroad. Banks warn their customers about this.

“Due to the imposed sanctions, operations on your (on the client’s card. -) UnionPay card abroad may be suspended in the near future. We recommend promptly withdrawing the necessary funds, ”says the client mailing list of Zenit Bank, which RBC has read.

UnionPay introduced limits on cash withdrawals from Russian cards abroad Finance

Uralsib Bank warns about the same. “There may be problems with UPI cards for customers located outside the Russian Federation. We recommend customers located abroad to insure themselves and withdraw funds, ”a representative of a credit institution told RBC.

“If you are not in RUSSIA, withdraw money from your Union Pay card. In the Russian Federation, all cards will work as usual, but difficulties may arise abroad: it is better to withdraw cash, ”the MTS Bank SMS message says.

Bank Saint Petersburg writes in the mailing list that due to its inclusion in the sanctions list and the uncertainty about the operation of Union Pay cards abroad, it recommends “if you are abroad, withdraw cash from ATMs or make the necessary purchases in the next few hours.” The withdrawal limit is 50,000 yuan per day (equivalent to $7,000), the bank reminds.

Primorye Bank also warned that, due to being included in the sanctions list, transactions with UnionPay cards abroad could be blocked.

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Some European banks refused to serve UnionPay from Russia Finance

The day before, the toughest blocking US sanctions were imposed against these banks. Being on the SDN list means blocking all assets located in the United States, stopping transactions in dollars, as well as the risks of introducing secondary sanctions on partner companies. In total, five out of 12 Russian issuers of UnionPay cards listed on the payment system website fell under the new US sanctions. RBC sent a request to these banks.

Officially, UnionPay did not announce the restriction of work with Russian banks that fell under the sanctions. However, Promsvyazbank, for example, ceased to be its issuer after it was switched off in the SDN list. In addition, as RBC wrote, citing sources in the financial market, Russian banks under sanctions will not be able to issue UnionPay cards because of the fear of the payment system itself being subject to restrictions. At the same time, UnionPay introduced a ban on accepting its cards issued by foreign banks at Russian POS terminals installed by sanctioned credit institutions.

UnionPay cards continue to be issued by Gazprombank and Rosselkhozbank, which are under US and EU sectoral sanctions. But these sanctions do not imply such large-scale restrictions on the work of credit institutions as blocking ones.

All UnionPay cards will continue to work in Russia, as transactions within the country are processed by the National Payment Card System.

UnionPay has limited the acceptance of its cards in Russia,issued abroad

In March, after the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the international payment systems (IPS) Visa and Mastercard left Russia. Because of this, their cards stopped working abroad. Russians can use cards of the Mir and UnionPay payment systems abroad, banks recorded a rush demand for them after the departure of the Ministry of Railways. But the network and geography of accepting these cards are limited, while the cost of issuing UnionPay during 2022 reached 15 thousand rubles. depending on the bank.