Instruction for money transfers for foreign students of SSTU

Explanations of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on how to make money transfers to Russia from abroad:

International payment systems Visa and MasterCard announced the suspension of work in the Russian Federation.

As a result, cross-border transfers by VISA and MasterCard cards issued by Russian banks are not available. This applies both to payments for purchases in foreign online stores and the use of these cards abroad to withdraw money and pay for purchases.

Transfers and payments using VISA and MasterCard cards issued by foreign banks will not be made in Russia. It will not be possible to withdraw cash from these cards in Russia.

International payment system cards such as VISA and MasterCard issued by Russian banks will continue to work in the normal mode in Russia until their validity expires. Holders of these cards in Russia will be able to make transactions at ATMs, pay with the cards, and make transfers from card to card. For payments within Russia, you can use the MIR card or the Quick Payment Service of the Bank of Russia.

Current methods of trans-border money transfers to and from Russia:

1. Using a MIR card for those countries where it is accepted: Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
2. Use of UnionPay International payment system cards (China).
3. Classic bank cross-border transfers on current accounts of citizens, except for accounts opened in Russian banks, which are disconnected from SWIFT (VTB, Bank Rossiya, FC Otkritie, Sovcombank, Promsvyazbank and Novikombank). From Russia, it is only possible to make transfers to countries that have not joined the US and EU sanctions, to close relatives in an amount not exceeding USD 5,000 per month.
4. The use of money transfer systems such as Zolotaya Korona and Western Union, but there are restrictions on the size and conditions of cross-border money transfers, which should be clarified on the websites of these systems or in the branches that carry out such transfers.

It is recommended that students:

1. Open an account at any Russian commercial bank that has not been hit by sanctions, but not at Sberbank, which will close its dollar correspondent accounts beginning March 26, 2022 After opening an account, it is necessary to take from this bank its details for transferring money via SWIFT and send them to their relatives, who can transfer money to this account from their account in a foreign bank.
   The student can convert the money into rubles and pay with a MIR card in Russia after receiving the money to his account in the Russian bank.
2. Open a UnionPay International (China) card and give the transfer details to your relatives.
3. Contact Zolotaya Korona or Western Union and inquire about the possibility of receiving money transfers from your home country.