The twin suspensions were announced within 16 minutes of each other, and they followed a private video call earlier in the day between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and US lawmakers. During that conversation, Zelenskyy "asked us to turn off MasterCard and Visa for Russia," Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California [US Congressional Ukraine Caucus], tweeted. "I agree," he added, before Mastercard and Visa made their announcements.
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The moves by Mastercard and Visa could make real differences to their bottom lines. Russia accounted for 4 percent of all of Visa's net revenue in its last fiscal year, including money made from domestic and cross-border activities. Ukraine accounted for about 1 percent, Visa said in a filing with US securities regulators this week.

Mastercard said in its own filing that about 4 percent of its net revenues during 2021 came from business conducted within, into and out of Russia. Another roughly 2 percent was related to Ukraine.

Nikhil Reddy, payments senior analyst at GlobalData, says: "This will have a significant impact on the Russian card payments market resulting in reduced e-commerce and POS [point-of-sale] transactions. Even digital payment solutions like Apple Pay and Google Pay have barred cardholders of the sanction hit Russian banks from using their services."

While major economies have isolated Russia, China has kept its door open, encouraging Russia to use its payment system called Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) for international trade as a substitute for SWIFT, by connecting it with Russia's payment system - the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS).
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As a result, he says Russia is strategically promoting the adoption of Mir via government mandates. It has passed mandates requiring public sector employees receiving state funds and welfare benefits to migrate to Mir payment cards. A similar mandate was imposed on pensioners, making pensions accessible only through Mir bank cards.