Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From Visa, MasterCard

Re:Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From V... by vetinari on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @10:45AM (#7704762)

> One way VISA/MC could strike against this law is by simply cutting off all Russian cc's. That would hurt them as well but they could simply stop doing business there for a week or so. I think that Putin would very quickly recant once it becomes evident how much of the Russian economy is now dependent on such instruments.

They already did that, to Bank Rossiya. This move by Russians is a retaliation for that.

> The new Russian owned payment system is dead in the water from a non-Russian perspective, the only reason VISA and MC are so popular in Russia is because people do not trust local alternatives, not because they don't have other options.

The reason why VISA and MC are so popular is because there is nothing else. Not only in Russia, but in other countries too. (Note that Maestro is owned and operated by MC).

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Re:Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From V... by jacquesm on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @11:19AM (#7704983)

I mean across the board.

JCB, AMEX, Discover and a bunch of others would disagree.

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Re:Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From V... by vetinari on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @11:58AM (#7705246)

"Nothing" as for large values of nothing.

JCB, AMEX, Discover are virtually unusable outside NA. Yes, you might find a restaurant or two that do accept Discover, but you cannot rely on that. Just like you cannot rely on Maestro in NA, for example.

VISA and MC are the only two accepted somewhat worldwide. Even VISA has work to do, to expand their coverage (e.g. Austria and Germany; they are not as universally accepted as Maestro or local "bank cards").

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Re:Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From V... by acqq on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @12:27PM (#7705432)

Regarding Europe, Visa and the dirty tricks, see London 2012:

http://www.geek.com/news/visa-is-the-exclusive-payment-partn...

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Re:Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From V... by dagw on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @11:56AM (#7705232)

The level of acceptance of those cards, globally, is tiny compared to Visa/Mastercard.

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Re:Putin Passes Law Requiring $3.8B Security Payments From V... by jacquesm on Tuesday May 06, 2014 @04:50PM (#7707006)

But it is a lot higher than any Russia only card will ever be.

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