Banks Introduce New Restrictions For Russian And Chinese Payment Systems Cards
3- 23.06.2022, 15:25
- 5,858
Which banks have introduced restrictions?
Belarusian banks continue to impose restrictions against the cards of the Mir Russian payment system and against some of the Chinese UnionPay payment cards. For example, VTB Bank (Belarus) introduced a limit of five rubles for cash withdrawals at its ATMs using Mir cards issued by foreign banks. According to zerkalo.io, many banks introduced such restrictions earlier.
From July 4, Belarusbank will increase the commission for non-cash transfer of funds from abroad using a card or its details to the individual accounts. This includes transfers via Visa Direct, Mastercard MoneySend, and Belkart MIR. The commission will increase from 1% to 15% of the transfer amount.
From June 23, Belarusbank introduced a restriction on cash withdrawals from ATMs using VISA, Mastercard, UnionPay International cards issued abroad. The limit will be 500 rubles per week per card. Also, this bank increased the commission from 2.5% to 15% of the transfer amount for cash withdrawals in Belarusian rubles at bank branches using VISA and Mastercard cards of foreign banks.
VTB Bank (Belarus) introduced a limit of five rubles for cash withdrawals at its ATMs using Mir cards issued by foreign banks.
According to the Officelife news publisher, the introduced cash limits for Mir cards are related to the difference in exchange rates. Previously, it was beneficial for Russians to withdraw Belarusian rubles from a Russian card at ATMs in Belarus or transfer Russian rubles to Belarus by postal order and then withdraw Belarusian rubles, and then buy foreign currency with them. The exchange rate for such transactions is much more profitable than for cash transactions in exchange offices in Russia.
According to ilex.by, citing sources in the financial community, banks imposed restrictions because “more and more Russians began to withdraw Belarusian rubles and convert them into dollars or euros since it is not easy to do in their home country”.
