Sberbank to Close Foreign-Currency and Multicurrency Visa and Mastercard Cards from September 1
Russia's largest bank Sberbank announced it will stop servicing foreign-currency and multicurrency Visa and Mastercard cards from September 1, 2026, as they can no longer be used abroad.
Sberbank has announced that it will discontinue servicing all foreign-currency and multicurrency Visa and Mastercard payment cards starting September 1, 2026. The decision was made because since 2022 these cards can no longer be used for purchases abroad or hotel bookings, the bank's support service explained.
The bank emphasizes that the restriction does not depend on the payment system – only the currency in which the card was opened matters. Sberbank had previously extended the validity of these cards until 2030, but is now urging customers to close their card accounts and transfer the balance to a savings account opened in the same currency.
After Visa and Mastercard left the Russian market in March 2022, cards issued to Russian customers under those networks stopped working abroad. However, within Russia they continued to function, and Russian banks extended their validity or made them open-ended.
In October 2025, Dmitry Dubynin, director general of the National Payment Card System (NSPK, which operates the Mir system), stated that Russia needs to restrict the use of cards whose validity has expired because their security certificates are no longer valid. In response, the Central Bank affirmed that Visa and Mastercard cards would continue to work.
Sberbank advises customers to close their card accounts and transfer funds to savings accounts before September 1 to avoid service interruptions.
