Russia assures US payment firms to reduce required collateral

(MENAFN) Russia is to prevent the US payment card firms Mastercard and Visa from quitting Russia by assuring to reduce the size of the deposit required for them to operate in the country, The Peninsula Qatar reported. New rules imposed on foreign card companies following Western sanctions over Ukraine required the payment operators to deposit collateral with the central bank worth two days of their average processing volume in Russia. Both companies considered quitting Russia after President signed the rules into law in early May, but said they would stay after officials showed a willingness to relax the requirements. "We expect that the actions we are taking will calm the situation with Visa and Mastercard," Russian First Deputy Prime Minister said.