Major payment system suspends operations in Russia, Belarus

International money transfer system Western Union has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday.

Earlier, the US-based payments company unilaterally stopped working with Russia’s Promsvyazbank, an institution that was placed on the sanctions list by Washington.

Western Union is the latest in a string of financials to leave Russia in the wake of the war with Ukraine and ensuing sanctions imposed by the US, the EU, and other nations.

US credit card firms Visa and MasterCard had already restricted operations in Russia, only allowing transactions within the country. PayPal and American Express also suspended operations in the state, with Japanese credit card company JCB Corp. announcing similar plans. Some Russian banks on the sanctions list have also been cut off from the SWIFT international money transfer system.

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