OREANDA-NEWS Visa and Mastercard payment system cards issued in Russia have stopped working abroad and in foreign online stores. Also, since March 10, cards issued by foreign banks are no longer accepted for payment in the Russian Federation. Visa and Mastercard cards continue to work in the Russian territory, as operations on them are carried out by the National Payment Card System (NSPK).

Before the expiration of these cards, Russians will have access to all funds in their accounts, as well as all the usual payment transactions — payment for purchases, money transfer from card to card, cash withdrawal and others.

The National Payment Card System (NSPK) previously reported that Russian banks will automatically transfer customers with Visa and Mastercard cards to the Mir payment system — but only after their card expires.

However, some banks have already stated that the cards of foreign payment systems will become indefinite, and they will not need to be renewed and reissued. This, in particular, was reported in Raiffeisenbank and VTB.

Major Russian banks are also planning to issue Mir cards together with the Chinese UnionPay payment system.

On March 6, Western payment systems announced the suspension of activities in Russia due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

Also, earlier it became known that in the week from February 28 to March 6, the average weekly expenses of Russians increased by 20.4%, and the average check - by 11.6%.

On average, one family spent 6,978 rubles a week on everyday goods, which is 20.4% (1,182 rubles) more than the previous week. Compared to the same period in 2021, expenses increased by 26.7% (1,469 rubles). Relative to the average value over the past 12 months (5,231 rubles), the weekly expenditure index is 33.4% higher, or 1,747 rubles.