Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/9474563

UnionPay was widely touted as China’s rescue operation to Russia after Visa, Mastercard and American Express suspended operations in Russia over the war in Ukraine and SWIFT was blocked. It became one of the only methods Russians could use to make payments abroad.

Now UnionPay cards linked to the Huawei Pay service have stopped working in Russia, local news portal 66.ru reported on Tuesday, citing users who say they have been unable to make payments. The Moscow Times said that the restrictions may be the result of U.S. sanctions against Russia’s National Payment Card System (NSPK), which processes all UnionPay card transactions in the country.