Znak: Customers of Russian banks report ApplePay payment denials – Rosbalt

The Russians began to complain about problems with paying for services using the ApplePay service, which arose against the backdrop of the imposition of sanctions against Russia due to its military operation in Ukraine.

Portal Znak.com became aware of at least four cases where the system did not work. So, in particular, the director of the Yekaterinburg publication UralBusinessConsulting, Maxim Susoev, said on his own that he was unable to pay with a Sberbank card in a fitness club where a VTB bank terminal was installed.

Political strategist Alexei Schweigert, who was unable to pay with the system in a cafe using two cards, also spoke about problems with Apple Pay.

Recall, on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in the Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones. Sanctions, in particular, hit Russian banks, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and access their financial systems.

You can follow the chronicle of events around Ukraine on February 27 here.