Expensive and angry: it became more difficult for Russians to open Visa and Mastercard abroad

The requirements are getting tougher, and they can be blocked at any time

After the international payment systems Visa and Mastercard left Russia, the question of their alternative came to the fore in the financial market. For a long time, the registration of “plastic” in a foreign bank seemed to be the best way out. Reacting to the increased interest in this topic, aggregators have appeared in Russia that provide such services and, unfortunately, scammers. What difficulties do Russians need to be prepared for when they want to get a card from a foreign bank – in the material “MK”.

Galina R., a 28-year-old resident of Tolyatti, needed a Visa card from a foreign bank to pay for subscriptions to foreign platforms for watching series. On the advice of a friend, she turned to one of the popular aggregators. A woman opened a dollar card in Kyrgyzstan. Almost 40 thousand rubles had to be paid for urgent registration. But the resident of Togliatti was still satisfied with the result. Everything was done on time, the bank’s application turned out to be convenient and was available in Russian, and the exchange rate is even more comfortable than inside Russia, so the woman now plans to use the card when traveling abroad.

In some cases, money for a trip abroad can only be taken in a non-cash form. “In some countries, for example, in Finland, it is forbidden to take cash with you when crossing the border,” recalled Anna Jafarova, CEO of the aggregator company 5 Kart. Tourists can only have a bank card with them. In France, non-residents are prohibited from paying with cards of relatives or friends, as in this case, payment may be refused, the expert warned.

It is curious that even in “friendly” countries it is becoming more and more difficult for Russians to open cards of international payment systems. If back in the spring it was possible to remotely issue “plastic” only with a foreign passport in a number of CIS countries, today citizens of our country are already required to have a residence permit or a long-term real estate lease agreement, issue a local SIM card, work permit, it became necessary to maintain minimum balance on accounts, etc. In a number of banks in the autumn it became difficult to open a card without personal presence. But if you decide, then you need to know the following.

– In Kazakhstan, local banks ask the Russians for a residence permit, an employment contract or other documents that would confirm that the applicant plans to stay in the country for a long time.

– In Kyrgyzstan, by autumn, the number of banks working with Russians has significantly decreased. In addition, today no more than five powers of attorney for opening an account can be issued for one citizen of this country. Moreover, if such a power of attorney is issued, then it should indicate the opening of one card in a particular bank.

– In Uzbekistan, in the summer, the National Bank banned the remote identification of customers and the opening of accounts by proxy, also due to fear of secondary sanctions. As a result, cards in this country in the fall are opened to Russians only on an individual basis for VIP clients who are ready to deposit substantial amounts into an account upon opening it.

– Tajikistan. If in the spring two banks of this country were ready to issue cards to Russians, then in the fall only one player remained on this market, and its functionality cannot be called interesting for Russians who are accustomed to a high level of financial mobility. Now you need to wait 7-10 days for the approval of the application.

– In Belarus, only state-owned banks were sanctioned, so representatives of the commercial segment still have the opportunity to issue Visa and Mastercard cards. The procedures for identifying new customers are now possible both by proxy and through video interviews. Such convenience brought the republic to the first place in terms of popularity: according to the EasyPay.World aggregator, its share in the total number of applications in September reached 35%.

– In Armenia, which accounted for up to 40% of all applications in August, the screws were tightened so that in September it was reduced to 5%. Out of fear of falling under secondary sanctions, Armenian banks are now asking Russians for sources of origin of funds. The general package of documents required by financial institutions may differ from case to case, the time for their verification has increased.

But even if you have opened a card, the next question is how to replenish it. Often, transfers between Russia and the country where the card is issued, if possible, require such conversion costs and commissions that in total you will find that the cost of the currency for you in rubles turned out to be approximately the same as if you were traveling by buying cash in exchanger, where the rate is higher than the official one. “Russian banks can limit SWIFT transfers and set commissions for them,” Varvara Mordvina, a lawyer at the Unified Protection Center, recalls. “The use of cryptocurrency is fraught with the blocking of Russian and foreign cards for operations that are suspicious from the bank’s point of view.” You can replenish foreign accounts through the cards of the Mir system, if it is integrated and still works within another state, as, for example, it happens in Belarus. But there are fewer and fewer banks cooperating with the Russian payment system due to the risk of secondary sanctions.

And, of course, when applying for a card in a foreign financial organization, you must comply with the requirements of Russian laws. “A citizen, opening an account and a card in a foreign bank, is obliged to notify the tax service about this, otherwise there will be problems with the legislation and a fine will be imposed,” recalls Yury Yudenkov, professor at the Faculty of Finance and Banking of the RANEPA. So do not forget to inform the Federal Tax Service about opening an account in a foreign country, if you decide to do so.