ATMs in Austria stopped working with Gazprombank cards

ATMs in Austria have stopped issuing cash to holders of UnionPay cards of Russia’s Gazprombank, the largest Russian credit institution that has not been sanctioned by the European Union.

As reported by the PRIME agency, the Austrian company that processes foreign card payments called the problem beyond their responsibility. Gazprombank said that the bank’s partners in Austria “refused to respond”, why the error occurred.

In Austria, the problem has been noted at least since the end of last year, it follows from the December material of TASS. The bank told RIA Novosti that the problem is also observed in Italy. From the materials of the agencies, it is not clear whether payments can be made at retail outlets.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian economy was subjected to unprecedented sanctions from the Western countries. Against this background, the largest payment systems, American Visa and Mastercard, left the Russian market. Inside Russia, banks have switched to the “Mir” payment system, and for overseas trips, clients are offered the Chinese UnionPay. However, the cards of the banks sanctioned do not work in Western countries and with it.

Gazprombank, together with “DOM.RF”, is one of two banks from the list of the 10 largest in Russia, which did not fall under the sanctions of the European Union after the winter of 2022. In autumn, the European Parliament approved a resolution calling for the bank to be added to the sanctions list. However, the package of sanctions adopted at the end of December 12 does not contain such a measure.