“Chinese” cards of the UnionPay payment system, at least those issued in Russia, will not save Russian tourists abroad – many foreign banks and online stores block payments on them. This information was presented to tourists by Kommersant. The experts of the publication noted that in Russia since the introduction of sanctions and the departure of the usual payment systems, more than 1.5 million cards of this payment system have already been “introduced”, a significant part of them are virtual. However, many foreign stores and their acquiring banks cut off any payments from cards issued in Russia.
“Demand for UnionPay remains booming. If before the introduction of sanctions, the volume of issue of cards of this PS in the country was estimated at 50 thousand pieces, now, even according to the most conservative estimates of experts, we are talking about 500 thousand pieces. Against the backdrop of rush demand, the cost of issuing and maintaining UnionPay cards already ranges from several thousand to more than 10 thousand rubles. per year,” write Kommersant’s experts.
Further, they emphasize that so far few tourists have managed to test the card abroad and “reviews are different”. “In the US, the card was almost not accepted anywhere,” they quote a statement from one victim on social networks. With online stores – the same. Banks do not give an official answer, however, Kommersant's unofficial banking sources assure that at least foreign online stores have really decided simply not to serve Russians, regardless of the payment system. “Such players instruct acquiring banks not to make payments with cards issued in the Russian Federation, regardless of the payment system,” says one of Kommersant’s sources.
“According to an independent expert in the payment card market Dmitry Vishnyakov, the possible restrictions in such situations are probably related to a simple technological solution – instead of sorting out whether the bank that issued the card is under sanctions or not, outlets prefer to block the entire country. But according to the PS rules, acquiring banks do not have the right to discriminate the card by the country of issue, ”Kommersant writes. Further, the publication notes that it is the responsibility of the payment system to ensure that the acquirer accepts all cards, but according to the publication, UnionPay “seems to prefer not to interfere in the situation.”
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