Russian bank customers are now banned from using Google and Apple Pay

Several Russian users have been barred from using Google Pay and Apple Pay services after the United States imposed heavy sanctions on the nation for invading Ukraine. Customers reported that they were unable to use bank cards with Google’s and Apple’s payment services.

According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, customers of banks including Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Novikombank, Sovcombank, and VTB Group, which fell under sanctions, are no longer permitted to pay with cards of these banks abroad.

Although these banks will not be able to use Google and Apple services, contactless or standard contact payment is available still across Russia. However, Apple Pay and Google Pay are not as popular in Russia as compared to the U.S.

The most popular payment services in Russia are Sberbank Online, YooMoney, and QIWI. Only around 29 and 20% of Russians are known to use Google Pay and Apple Pay respectively.

Russia’s Central Bank has also introduced some new measures to support local markets as it rushes to manage the fallout of the harsh Western sanctions.

It is worth noting that the U.S. has put heavy sanctions on two of Russia’s biggest financial institutions namely, VTB Bank and Sberebank. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, has reportedly frozen the assets of at least five Russian Banks.

The White House, along with Canada and some European nations, will remove Russian banks from SWFT, the popular payment system used for most financial transactions across the globe.

Google has now become the latest U.S. tech behemoth to ban Russian state media from generating revenues on its platforms in response to the war in Ukraine. The announcement came just hours after YouTube issued a ban on some Russian media channels from monetizing their services through videos.

Meanwhile, Facebook too revealed last week to have banned Russian state media from all its platforms.

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https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/russian-bank-customers-can-not-use-this-apple-and-google-service/articleshow/89883324.cms