PayPal Shuts Down Services in Russia Over Ukraine Invasion

PayPal has become the latest financial and technology company to shut down its operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

The company’s president Dan Schulman said that his company “stands with the international community” in condemning Russia’s invasion and that “under the current circumstances we are suspending PayPal services in Russia.”

A company spokesperson said PayPal would temporarily support withdrawals to ensure “account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws and regulations.” PayPal’s move also applies to its money transfer tool Xoom.

PayPal had only allowed cross-border transactions by users in Russia but stopped accepting new users in the country on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian government officials had been calling on PayPal to leave Russia and news of its decision to shut down its service was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov who tweeted a copy of Schulman’s statement addressed to him.

“So now it’s official: PayPal shuts down its services in Russia citing Ukraine aggression,” Fedorov tweeted: “Thank you @PayPal for your supporting! Hope that soon you will open it in for Ukraine.”

PayPal said on Friday it had helped facilitate the raising of over $150 million for charities helping with the response efforts in Ukraine, Reuters reported, and its statement on Saturday said it would “support efforts to provide humanitarian relief.”

PayPal’s competitors Wise and remittance processor Remitly have also suspended their money transfer services in Russia as the list of companies severing their ties with the country over the war grows.

Apple announced it would stop all its product sales in Russia while its services including Apple Pay have been limited.

Finnish network maker Nokia, which supplies MTS, Vimpelcom, Megafon and Tele2 in Russia, announced it would stop deliveries of networking equipment and infrastructure to the country.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on a number of Russian individuals and financial institutions including Russia’s central bank. The U.S. has also blocked American companies and people from doing business with any individual or entity on the blacklist.

Following the measures, payment and credit card giants Visa and Mastercard blocked Russian financial institutions from their networks.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, European energy majors BP, Shell and Equinor all announced plans to bring an end to joint ventures in Russia.

Meanwhile, global bank HSBC, France’s Société Générale and South Korea’s Shinhan Bank have all wound down their relationships with a number of Russian banks.

The European Union has said it would exclude seven Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system but stopped short of including those handling energy payments.