Uralsib Bank stops transfers in "unfriendly" countries' currencies

MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Uralsib Bank , which was hit by U.S. and UK sanctions last week, has suspended retail and corporate customers' transfers in nine currencies.

Outgoing client payments in U.S. dollars, pounds sterling, Danish krone, Japanese yen, Swedish krona, Canadian dollars, Norwegian krone, Australian dollars and Swiss francs have been suspended, the Russian bank said in a statement.

Conversion of these currencies will also be suspended temporarily for corporate customers.

"We are also asking not to make transfers to the bank in these currencies," Uralsib said.

Uralsib suspended transfers and payments in euros in August 2022 due to the imposition of restrictions on forex transactions by European correspondent banks. However, incoming payments in euros and conversion transactions were fully available at the time.

Uralsib said it is working on minimizing the consequences of sanctions for its customers. "All of the bank's services for clients located in Russia will work as before without any restrictions, offices and bank machines are operating normally. The bank's cards work like before - it is possible to withdraw cash, pay at stores or online in Russia without restrictions," the lender said.

However, the Union Pay cards of customers who are abroad no longer work due to the decision of this Chinese payment system, Uralsib said.

The bank also recommended customers update their mobile app to the latest version and not delete it from mobile devices, and that users of iOS devices turn off automatic updates.