Ukraine Aggression: PayPal/payoneer Shuts Down Its Services In Russia
PayPal said Saturday it was suspending its services in Russia, adding to the number of firms retreating from the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
"Under the current circumstances, we are suspending PayPal services in
Russia," Dan Schulman, PayPal's CEO, said in a letter addressed to the
Ukrainian government.
The letter was posted on Twitter by Ukraine's minister of digital
transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, who has pressured businesses including Apple
to Microsoft to cut ties with Russia.
"So now it's official: PayPal shuts down its services in Russia citing
Ukraine aggression," Fedorov tweeted Saturday. "Thank you @PayPal for
your supporting!"
A PayPal spokesperson confirmed the company was shutting down in Russia. The
company will "continue work to process customer withdraws for a period of
time, ensuring that account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws
and regulations," the spokesperson told CNBC.
The payment processor had already discontinued domestic services in Russia in
2020. This latest action relates to its remaining business in the country,
including send and receives functions and the ability to make international
transfers via PayPal's Xoom remittances platform.
Russians were prevented from opening new PayPal accounts earlier this week, the
company said.
PayPal is the latest payment organization to sever ties with Russia, which now
faces a barrage of sanctions from the West over President Vladimir Putin's
decision to invade Ukraine.
Sanctions saw SWIFT, the global interbank messaging network, bar several
Russian banks, while Visa and Mastercard this week said they would also block
Russian financial institutions from their networks.
What this implies is that it's now basically impossible to send money to any individual in
Russia Using the PayPal platform.
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