The international payment systems Visa and MasterСard have announced the suspension of work in the territory of the Russian Federation. In this regard, cross-border transfers using VISA and MasterCard cards, if they are issued by Russian banks, are not available. This applies both to paying for purchases in foreign online stores, and using these cards abroad to withdraw money and pay for purchases.

In Russia, transfers and payments using VISA and MasterCard cards issued by foreign banks will not be available. It is impossible to withdraw cash from these cards in Russia. Cards of international payment systems VISA and MasterCard issued by Russian banks will continue to work in Russia in the usual mode until their expiration date. Holders of these cards in Russia will be able to conduct transactions at ATMs, pay by cards, and make transfers from card to card. For payments in Russia, you can use the MIR card or the Fast Payment System of the Bank of Russia.

Current methods of cross-border transfer of funds to and from Russia:

1. Using the MIR card for those countries where it is accepted: Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.       
2. Using cards of the international payment system UnionPay International (China).
3. Classic bank cross-border transfers on current accounts of citizens, with the exception of accounts opened in Russian banks that are disconnected from SWIFT (VTB, Bank Rossiya, FC Otkritie, Sovcombank, Promsvyazbank and Novikombank). Transfers from Russia can only be made to countries that have not joined the US and EU sanctions, to close relatives in the amount of no more than 5,000 US dollars per month.
4. Using money transfer systems, for example, Zolotaya Korona (Korona Pay) and Western Union. However, there are restrictions on the size and conditions of cross-border money transfers that need to be clarified on the websites of these systems or at the departments that make such transfers.

Students are encouraged to:

1) Open an account with any Russian commercial bank that has not been sanctioned. After opening the account, students need to take its details in this bank for transferring money via SWIFT and send it to their relatives, who can transfer money to this account from their account in a foreign bank. After receiving the money to their account, the student can convert them into roubles and pay in Russia by a MIR card.
2) Open a UnionPay International card (China) and provide the details for the transfer to their relatives.
3) Contact Zolotaya Korona or Western Union and find out about the possibility of receiving a money transfer from their country.