Friday, March 25, 2022 12:56 pm11 Comments

• News

Apple has suspended its Apple Pay service for Russia’s Mir card payment system, Russia’s largest lender and payments system said on Friday, closing a loophole that had allowed Russians to keep using the service.

Apple has informed Sberbank that it is suspending the use of Mir cards associated with Apple Pay e-wallets. As of March 24th, Apple is removing all the Mir cards paired with its wallets, making the use of Mir cards with Apple Pay impossible in Russia.

Reuters:

Apple Inc restricted the use of Apple Pay, which began operating in Russia in 2016, on March 1 in the wake of Russia’s decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, preventing Russian Mastercard and Visa cardholders using the service.

But Russia’s home-grown system, Mir, remained connected to Apple Pay until that access was removed on Thursday, according to Russia’s National Card Payment System (NSPK).

“Apple has informed NSPK it is suspending support for Mir cards in the Apple Pay payment service. Starting from March 24, users cannot add new Mir cards to the service. Apple will stop all operations of previously added cards over the next few days,” NSPK said on Friday.

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11 Comments

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1. Way to go Apple. Not only that Apple has a notice right on their front page that takes you to a link to help families affected by the war in Ukraine.

   It’s great that Apple still leads, while others follow, and yet still others whine about the poor ruskkkans being censored.

   Thank you Apple for making the news, though it’s pretty hard these days to look at any real bona fide media site and not read about Zelensky and the Ukraine.

   1. Apple leads in their usage of slave labor in China. Nobody should follow that.

2. No Not a Racist...Just a Thinker

   Friday, March 25, 2022 at 3:14 pm

   Though it may be “easy” to put all Russians into the bad-box (poor Russians being censored), many, many Russians are opposed to Putin’s War and measures, such as this one from Apple, impinge on many well-meaning people. I know it’s hard to differentiate and a leader’s choice affect all citizens w/i the country, it’s a lousy mindset that rejoices in the “ruskkkans being censored.” True to form, you are illogically, prejudicially and impulsively branding all with your beloved “kkk” stamp.

   1. Polls say 70% of Russians support the Hitler-like Putin.

      1. No Not a Racist...Just a Thinker

         Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 10:59 am

         Yeah, f the other 30. Were you one of those demanding the unvaxed, take the medicine for THE ONE.

   2. My comment wasn’t intended to put them in the bad box but rather to point out who is putting them in the bad box, and yes I’m looking the Macommarade Daily News and and their illogical, prejudicial and impulsively branded comment “All nineteen Apple Pay and all zero Google Pay users in Russia are reportedly highly miffed.” Makes you wonder what source provided that report.

      I agree with you about the opposition to the war, there is an exodus right now, I’ve read a report that 50-70,000 tech workers have left so far. The main route out is by rail to Finland, and that service, which has been packed recently is to be suspended on Monday. These people are having their lives upended.

      There is however a need for context here as I’ve also read reports of 3.8 million people who have left the Ukraine the majority going to Poland. Those that have remained behind do so at the risk of their lives. That includes their president Zelenskyy who has demonstrated heroic bravery and courage.

      There is also a small but important influx into Ukraine right now and anyone willing to defend to help Ukraine should contact their respective Ukrainian embassy. People from all over the world are going to fight along side the Ukrainians. Those people have earned my thanks and respect. To me, and this is just an opinion of course, living kind of supersedes the importance of being censored, there is no free speech without life.

      You might be right about the kkk stamp, it’s much more fitting to use something like ruSSianSS as it goes so well with the flavour of the geSStapo and SS of the gnatziSS. After all “de-nazification” appears to be a main reason for the invasion. That’s as ludicrous as believing there was a WMD program in Iraq, considering that Zelensky is Jewish and lost family who fought against the gnatziSS during WWII but they both have the same flavour…super pooper power comes up with an illogical, prejudicial and impulsively branded stamp in order to massacre civilians and test out new weapon systems.

      The Russians and Ukrainians I’ve worked with and befriended are fine people. Apple has made a stand by putting a link on their web site to UNICEF support for Ukraine, Tim Cook sent an email to all staff and will match their donations 2 to 1. Not directly related to Apple but very high tech is Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, making drone communication possible. The democratic world is rallying around a country that is fighting for its very existence. No surprise that it’s being treated as a wet noodle around here. Now back to the important headlines, those award winning Apple TV shows.

3. Alexánder.

   Friday, March 25, 2022 at 4:19 pm

   When is going to do Apple the same thing for Saudi Arabia for the war in Yemen? Or cancel the payments for the cards in United States due to the wars provoked by the pentagon ?

   1. Gonna be the future soon

      Saturday, March 26, 2022 at 11:57 pm

      You know very well what has driven US mid east policy since the 1970s.

      The USA has plenty of natural gas, it doesn’t need any from Russia. Russia thought the west would keep funding Putin’s war machine but obviously he overplayed his hand. The USA just made a bunch of deals to sell LNG to Europe. Bravo.

      The USA’s insatiable demand for gasoline to power it’s grossly oversized vehicles however has made the USA a willing addict to Saudi Arabia’s oil. The cheap oil in the USA is gone and Canadian tar is worse. Why do you think the oil majors now have to drill Deepwater Horizons further and further offshore?

      Every US administration has cowtowed to the Sheiks in order to prevent another OPEC embargo. Moreover, the painfully expensive Bush wars proved that the USA has no ability to build democratic nations in the mid east. The murderous Saudi regime knows it has nothing to fear from the USA as long as oil and weapons flow back and forth.

      To the intelligent person, it should be an obvious security priority for Americans to switch as rapidly as possible away from their gas guzzler trucks to sustainable transportation. Investment in railways, EV infrastructure, and yes more efficient ICE vehicles would all create jobs. It would be a huge boost to natural gas and renewable energy, and it would reduce pollution in urban areas at least.

      Nothing political about it, the USA needs to get energy independent ASAP.

4. Friday, March 25, 2022 at 4:21 pm

   This war is 100% the responsibility of the American government. Sheesh, some people are so damned ill-informed it beggars belief.

   1. Troll Alert

      Friday, March 25, 2022 at 6:42 pm

      You are brainwashed.

      These aren’t American tanks attempting to invade Ukraine, you fool.

   2. Wrong. The decision to invade a sovereign country belongs solely to Putin.
      In the Budapest Memorandum where Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons, Putin actually entered an agreement to respect their borders. Of course, he lied.

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