Tinkoff Bank from May 23 will begin to issue cards of the Chinese payment system UnionPay. This is reported by RBC with reference to the response of the bank’s customer support staff.
A virtual card will be available free of charge, while a physical card will cost one thousand rubles. These cards will not work in the EU countries, the U.S., Britain, Georgia and Israel. However, they can be used in Turkey, the UAE or Thailand, as well as in other countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
RBC reported back in November 2022 that Tinkoff received the right to issue cards with the UnionPay system.
UnionPay is the only international payment system operating in Russia. At the same time, RBC’s sources note that due to fears of sanctions, the company has banned issuing its cards to some sub-sanctioned banks, while it has not officially announced any restrictions on work.
Tinkoff on February 25 for the first time came under Western sanctions. They were imposed by the European Union as part of the tenth package of restrictions against Russia, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. In May, the bank came under British sanctions.
