Visa and MasterCard restrict access to their networks to Russian banks.

Visa and Mastercard have turned off access to their payment networks to Russian financial institutions in order to comply with government-imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

“Our Cyber & Intelligence and Corporate Security teams are collaborating with governments and partners worldwide to assure the stability, integrity, and resilience of our systems, which are running normally,” Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said in a statement posted to the company’s website.

According to Nikkei Asia, Ukraine National Bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko advocated the measure to boost pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime.

According to Reuters, “Russians hurried to ATMs and queued for hours on Sunday and Monday, fearful that their bank cards would stop working or that banks would restrict cash withdrawals.”

Miebach stated that one of the most critical functions of the company is to ensure that its network and the global payments ecosystem stay secure from threats.

“Visa is taking immediate measures to guarantee compliance with applicable sanctions and is prepared to comply with any further sanctions that may be enacted,” the corporation stated on its website.

Each of the card companies donated $2 million in humanitarian contributions to assist Ukrainians displaced by the war, whose numbers the UN anticipates to grow to as many as 5 million, Time reported.

A coalition of some of the world’s wealthiest nations joined forces over the weekend to impose their first Swift sanctions against Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, adopting a narrowly tailored approach to cutting off select Russian banks from the global financial messaging system.