Apple Pay to halt support for Russian banks sanctioned on war in Ukraine

cointelegraph.com:

Several Russian banks that were sanctioned over Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine will no longer support major payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB, as well as other banks like Sovcombank, Otkritie, Novikombank and Promsvyazbank, are on the list of companies sanctioned by the United States, the Bank of Russia confirmed on Friday.

Users of debit and credit cards issued by these banks will no longer be able to use Apple Pay and Google Pay, the central bank said in the announcement, adding that contact or contactless payment will still be available in full across Russia.

Customers will also no longer be able to pay with these cards for products and services sold online from countries supporting the sanctions, the statement notes.

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is also among the sanctioned banks, the Bank of Russia said in a separate announcement on Friday. The sanctions specifically target Sberbank’s correspondent accounts.

Apart from some Russian cards being blocked from Apple Pay and Google Pay, some sanctioned Russian banks are also facing issues with Apple Store and Google Store due to their involvement with decisions over Ukraine’s Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic.

Apple reportedly removed mobile applications by the sanctioned Promsvyazbank on Wednesday, with at least three apps getting removed from the App Store. Google reportedly removed the bank’s main application from its store as well.

Russians have been increasingly withdrawing money from their bank accounts as some officials have warned about banks potentially seizing retail deposits in case sanctions go too far. Users reportedly withdrew $1.3 billion (111.3 billion rubles) from