United Arab Emirates Airlines resumes accepting Russian card from travelers: Media Reports

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), several airlines have resumed accepting Russian cards to pay for tickets, reported RT news citing Izvestia, on Sunday. Further, they stated that customers have been able to use Russia’s Faster Payments System (SBP). Flight services provided by Emirates, Air Arabia and Flydubai would now be able to pay by MasterCard and Visa cards issued by Russian banks. In fact, as per multiple news reports, Turkish Airlines has been planning to provide a similar service to its customers. This development comes after a year when Visa and MasterCard were pulled out of Russia, the cards of international payment systems issued domestically were no longer accepted abroad or on foreign websites, reported RT news.

Russia's Payment system accepted in UAE

Russia’s domestic Faster Payment System (FPS) was launched by the country’s central bank in 2019. In Russia's Faster Payment System (FPS), customers are allowed to make transfers between banks using a phone number tied to an account. Furthermore, Card-to-card transfers have also been made available for transactions within a credit institution. Tickets for Air Arabia flights could be paid for through the system with a 6% commission charged on the total amount for each ticket issued, as per Russian-based RT news. For the reservation of tickets, one can process it on the carrier’s website, and then after a call from support service, the customer receives a link to finalise the operation. According to Flydubai, transactions conducted through an authorised agent would require an additional fee of 2,000 rubles, while Emirates offers the opportunity to pay for tickets using a QR code system. However, this process could be done for the purchase of tickets at least ten days prior to departure.

Reason for banning Russian cards

Last year, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Visa, Mastercard and American Express announced their suspension of all operations in Russia in protest. However, Russian banks had downplayed the impact on the consumers. After the suspension was announced, shoppers were able to use the cards for purchases within Russia until they reach their expiry dates. Notably, the Russian central bank insisted that all Visa and Mastercard bank cards issued by Russian banks would continue to operate normally on Russian territory. However, the major setback was for the cardholders who were abroad. Visa, Mastercard or American Express cards issued abroad were not serviceable at shops or ATMs in Russia. Many have not been able to use their Russian cards abroad and for international payments online. But now with this new development by UAE airlines, the clients would be able to use the cards.