The American Express credit card giant is disengaging its operations from Russia, along with other major companies in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
American Express called Russia’s attack on Ukraine “unjustified.” The company is also terminating all business operations in Belarus as well.
In addition to American Express (Amex), VISA, Mastercard, PayPal, and the Deloitte financial services firm have all decided to leave Russia, as well as Apple, NIKE, Zara and Samsung, according to Reuters, BBC and other international media this weekend.
Three of the biggest container shipping companies have also stopped deliveries to Russia, including Maersk from Denmark, MSC from Italy and CMA CGM from France, according to El Pais.
“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence,” Apple said in a statement to the TechCrunch website last week.
“Once complete, all transactions initiated with VISA cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country, and any VISA cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation,” VISA said in a statement.
“We regret the impact this will have on our valued colleagues and on the clients, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia,” VISA added.
“We have decided to suspend our network services in Russia,” Mastercard said in a separate statement, calling the invasion of Ukraine, “shocking and devastating.”
However, shoppers will still be able to use the cards for purchases within Russia – at least until their expiration dates.
VISA and Mastercard account for approximately 90 percent of credit and debit payments worldwide, with the exception of China.
Most of the banks in Russia are also set to be disconnected from the SWIFT international bank messaging system on March 12 as well.
