Emirates airline resumes accepting Russian payment cards

Emirates, Air Arabia and Flydubai now accept MasterCard and Visa cards issued by Russian banks. Turkish Airlines also reportedly plans to accept such payments from its customers.

Visa and MasterCard joined many Western companies in halting operations in Russia in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine last year as U.S. sanctions against the country intensified. Cards issued by the two major international payment system companies through Russian banks continue to be used domestically, but are no longer accepted abroad or on foreign websites.

The Central Bank of Russia launched the Speedy Payment System (SBP) in 2019 to reduce the country’s dependence on Western financial institutions. Customers can transfer money between banks using the phone number tied to the account. Card-to-card transfers are also available for intra-bank transactions.

6% commission per ticket for Air Arabia flights purchased through the SBP system. Reservations can be made on the Air Arabia website and confirmed by calling the airline’s customer service representative.

According to reports, Flydubai conducts transactions through third-party agents and charges a handling fee of 2,000 rubles. Emirates allows customers to pay for tickets using a QR code system.

as Financial Times ReportRussia kicks off efforts to build new payment system after Western sanctions on Russian banks violent blow Held in Maidan Square in 2014, it overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Russian president before Russia annexed Crimea.

Anastasia Nesvetelova, head of macroeconomic and political development at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said: “In post-Soviet Russia, the events of that year showed for the first time that financial sanctions affect not only individuals, but the wider economy.” .

Now, Russia is benefiting from the foresight it used to create an alternative payment system years ago.

China is also benefiting, as Russian consumers seeking to conduct international transactions increasingly turn to cards issued by China UnionPay in partnership with Russian banks.

this Financial Times It further noted that Western sanctions may become less effective as more countries, including Brazil and India, adopt alternative payment networks.

“Many countries rely heavily on Mastercard and Visa,” said Nicolas Véron, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “After these are weaponized, maybe there will be a consensus that UnionPay is more reliable.”

Ola Oyetayo, chief executive of payments platform Verto, said Russian banks may not return to using Western financial services firms. “In the long run, they might say bitten once, shy twice — even if they were an option again, they might not switch back,” Oyetayo said.