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PayPal said last weekend that it would be shutting down its services in Russia and cited the current situation as its reason for the decision. With its announcement, the financial technology company has joined many other financial and tech firms in halting operations in the country after it launched attacks to invade Ukraine.
As per Fox Business, PayPal’s spokesman said that the company will still support withdrawals for a period of time to make sure that account balances are distributed based on the applicable laws and regulations. The company also stopped accepting new sign-ups in Russia last week.
In any case, it was said that the government officials of Ukraine have also been calling on PayPal to leave Russia and assist them with raising funds. It was learned that the company had already helped raise more than $150 million for charities since the start of the attacks. This was the company’s first response to the tragedy in Ukraine and was considered the largest assistance effort that the Ukrainians had seen in such a short period of time.
“PayPal supports the Ukrainian people and stands with the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine. The tragedy taking place in Ukraine is devastating for all of us, wherever we are in the world,” part of the message that PayPal’s president and chief executive officer, Dan Schulman, shared with employees, reads.
He went on to say, “I want to share with you that we have suspended PayPal services in Russia. We have worked closely with governments and partners to actively comply with all applicable laws and sanctions and to fulfill our responsibilities to our global customers. We are also doing all we can to support our employees in Russia during this deeply difficult time.”
After the release of PayPal’s announcement of its service shut down in Russia, many groups praised the company and expressed their gratitude for its support. As mentioned on CNBC, PayPal is the latest payment system that has already cut ties with Russia, which is facing a series of sanctions from the West due to its invasion of Ukraine that was described to have been “unprovoked.”
Finally, Visa and Mastercard also discontinued their services recently, and this affected several Russian banks. The SWIFT also barred the country and this will block Russia from most financial networks worldwide.
