Visa in Russia

In the global market, Visa and MasterCard are facing a big threat from China’s UnionPay, which is accepted in 141 countries and was used for $3.3 trillion in purchases in 2012. That was less than the $5.7 trillion that went through Visa-branded cards, but more than MasterCard’s $2.7 trillion.

As the risen issue between the US and Russian. Legislation has already been introduced in Russia’s parliament that would ban the use of payment systems based outside of the country. As Visa and MasterCard cut off services to sanctioned organisations. Last Friday, the payment networks said they could stop servicing the sanctioned Bank Rossiya, along with three more banks connected. It means any Visa and MasterCard issued by sanctioned banks cannot make payment.

Visa Inc. and PULSE, a Discover Financial Services company, announced an agreement to enable financial institutions that issue EMV debit cards on both the Visa and PULSE networks to use Visa’s common debit solution. Visa’s common application identifier (AID) supports U.S. debit regulations requiring the ability to route transactions over multiple, unaffiliated networks. A common debit solution shared among all participants will help to accelerate EMV chip adoption in the United States and provide a uniform platform that will enable network innovation. In addition, as reported in the beginning of the semester, an appeals court upheld a ruling in a case on debit-card swipe fees. Retailers challenged the Fed Cap in a multi-billion fight over transaction costs. The court said the Fed acted within its authority when it capped debit card swipe fees at 21 cents.