Payments

As Visa and Mastercard move swiftly to limit their business in Russia, their nascent rivals face a challenge to fill the gap.

U.S. payment giants like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal — along with smaller companies like Paysera in Lithuania — have blocked transactions or pulled out of Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Sberbank said it’s looking at the possibility of issuing cards using the Russian payments system Mir and China’s UnionPay after Visa and Mastercard suspended operations following the invasion of Ukraine. 

Block, the digital payments company run by Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, is under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and multiple state attorneys general in connection with its Cash App service.

Zeta Services, a banking and credit card technology unicorn, has raised $30 million from investors including Mastercard, and the two announced a five-year collaboration to help customers launch credit card services.  

The companies' moves came a day after Visa and Mastercard said they were halting business in Russia because of its attack on Ukraine.

Russia reverberations, a rebranding, a resignation and more in banking news this week.

Sendi Young, the blockchain company's European managing director, discussed how a partnership with fintech Modulr supports its ongoing efforts to streamline money movement in a world where many payment rails predate the modern internet.

Visa has suspended access for certain clients as it works to comply with sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Merchants Payments Coalition is appealing to lawmakers to reform credit card interchange rates as Visa and Mastercard prepare to increase some fees next month after a yearlong delay.