Sberbank to stop servicing foreign currency Visa cards
Russia’s Sberbank has begun notifying clients that it will discontinue servicing foreign currency and multi-currency Visa cards starting September 1, 2026, according to a report by The Moscow Times, citing TASS.
The financial institution advises cardholders to close these accounts through the Sberbank Online mobile application and transfer remaining funds elsewhere. Cards can also be officially closed at any physical branch.
Affected accounts and client security
Sberbank specified that the decision applies strictly to inactive foreign currency cards with a zero balance that have not been used for a prolonged period. It also impacts multi-currency cards whose technical functionality is no longer supported.
"All client funds are fully preserved and remain available. These changes do not affect the management of active multi-currency accounts or clients' foreign currency accounts," the bank stated.
Regulatory drive to phase out foreign payment networks
The Central Bank of Russia previously proposed a roadmap to completely phase out remaining Visa and Mastercard products from circulation. The National Card Payment System (NSPK), operating under the central bank, proposed cutting interbank transaction fees for these cards to 1% in 2027 and 0% by 2028.
NSPK Director Dmitry Dubinin noted that Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks no longer function abroad, while maintaining their operations domestically incurs significant operational costs. Discussions on phasing them out have been ongoing since 2024, although commercial banks repeatedly requested regulators not to set a strict deadline.
Shift toward the domestic Mir system
According to NSPK data, the domestic Mir payment system accounted for over 75% of all card transactions in Russia during the first quarter of 2026. While Visa and Mastercard cards are being progressively retired, central bank estimates from late May indicated they still represented roughly 17% of active bank cards in circulation.
Following the withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard from the Russian market in 2022, authorities initially extended the validity of existing cards to prevent chip shortages caused by Western sanctions. However, financial regulators have since shifted policy toward full retirement.
Alla Bakina, Director of the Central Bank’s National Payment System Department, stated that these international cards "no longer fulfill the functions they previously provided." Regulators also cited the expiration of underlying security certificates as a primary technical reason for the phaseout.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
