Mastercard Inc. said that it had blocked multiple financial institutions from its payment network as a result of sanctions imposed on Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russians rushed to ATMs and waited in long queues amid concerns that bank cards may cease to function or that banks would limit cash withdrawals after Western sanctions.
Mastercard will continue to work with regulators. It also said that it will contribute a $2 million for humanitarian relief.
The United States and its allies said that they would take action against Russia’s central bank and bar some of the country’s banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a ‘special operation’.
