The Russian Agricultural Bank, fully owned by the Russian Federation,hasannounced that payments on UnionPay payment system cards abroadissued by the bankwill be suspended from July 19, 2024.
“If you are outside of Russia, we recommend withdrawing cash from UnionPay cards before the specified date,” the bank said in its Telegram channel. At the same time, there are no reports on the suspension of payments on UnionPay cards on the bank’s website in the “Press Center” section.
Russians use UnionPay cards abroad instead of Visa and Mastercard cards that have left the country. It is unclear what this statement from the Russian Agricultural Bank is related to, since the bank is under US sanctions but not under European Union sanctions.
Now, Russians can get UnionPay cards from Gazprombank, ATB, and PrimorskyBank for use abroad.
According to the statement of the Russian Agricultural Bank in the first quarter of 2024, its net profit amounted to 13.4 billion rubles, which is the highest figurefor one quarter in the bank’s history.