Sberbank and Alfa-Bank came under US blocking sanctions. How will this affect ordinary people?

The United States has announced a new list of sanctions against Russian organizations and individuals associated with the leadership of Russia. They will also be extended to credit institutions popular among Russians – Sberbank and Alfa-Bank. The countries of the European Union, Great Britain and other states can join these sanctions.

Sberbank and Alfa-Bank are blacklisted by the Ministry of Finance, and full blocking sanctions have been imposed on them. This means that U.S. entities and individuals are prohibited from doing business with them in any way, without special permission from the Office of Foreign Assets Control: sending them money or other assets, accepting payments from them, entering into contracts with them, investing in their business, or accepting from them investments. These banks are completely cut off from the US financial system, and their assets in the US and countries cooperating with the US will be frozen. The restrictions also apply to their subsidiaries.

The UK authorities have already announced the freezing of the assets of Sberbank and Moscow Credit Bank.

Comment of the press service of Sberbank:

The imposed sanctions will not have a significant impact on the work of the bank and will not affect the service to the Russians in any way, since the system has already adapted to the previously introduced restrictions. The experience, resources and expertise of Sberbank allow us to work successfully in any conditions.

Commentary of the press service of Alfa-Bank:

8257 sanctions have already been imposed against Russia. We used to be afraid of this, but now we are working as usual. You can pay with Visa, Mastercard and Mir cards in Russia without restrictions, transfers within the country are instant, applications and Internet banking work quickly and reliably.

Most likely, these sanctions will not really affect private clients of Sberbank and Alfa-Bank. All Russian banks are already disconnected from the SWIFT international payment system, as well as Visa and Mastercard systems abroad, as a result of which it is impossible to pay with their cards outside of Russia, including foreign online stores. Payments within Russia are made through the Russian NSPK system. Russia also issues Mir-UnionPay co-branded cards, which can be used to pay both in Russia and on trips abroad.