Russia to Begin Gradually Phasing Out Visa and Mastercard Cards

Russia’s National Payment Card System (NSPK), through which all transactions in the Russian Federation pass, has announced that it plans to gradually phase out Visa and Mastercard cards.

To achieve this goal, it plans to lower interchange-fee rates for cards issued by international payment systems. These are the payments that the bank that issued the buyer’s card receives from the seller’s bank.

From the beginning of 2027, the interchange-fee rate is expected to be reduced to 1%, and from the beginning of 2028—to be brought down to zero. As a result, it will become unprofitable for banks to continue working with Visa and Mastercard cards.

After Visa and Mastercard left Russia, it was reported that NSPK did not change the interchange-fee rate for their cards. That decision, NSPK said at the time, would allow Russian banks to “preserve existing credit and loyalty programs for cardholders.”

After foreign payment systems left Russia because of the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Russian banks extended the operating periods of their Visa and Mastercard cards or made them indefinite.

In the fall of 2025, NSPK head Dmitry Dubynin said that the operation of expired Visa and Mastercard cards needed to be restricted. He explained this by saying that, as of January 1, 2025, the security certificates in the chips of such cards had ceased to be valid.

At the time, Russia’s Central Bank assured that Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks would continue to operate and that there would be no “abrupt steps” to disable the cards.