Armenian banks on March 29 said they would stop processing transactions made by Russian Mir payment cards due to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. In September 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department threatened foreign banks with secondary sanctions for servicing Mir cards, a Russian card payment system. The Union of Banks of Armenia said the country's commercial banks "will stop servicing Mir cards as of March 30, because of the risk of secondary sanctions." An exception will be made for Mir cards issued by the Armenian subsidiary of Russia's state-controlled VTB Bank, it added.
Armenian Banks To Ditch Russian Cards Over U.S. Sanctions
Visa and Russian MIR payment cards (illustrative photo)