Wise Suspends Money Transfer Services In Russia Amid New Sanctions

Cross-border payments company Wise (formerly TransferWise) has suspended their money transfer services in Russia, following new sanctions over the weekend against the country.

According to London-based Wise it will continue to monitor the situation and “keep these measures under constant review.”

The fintech company previously known as TransferWise, holds balances in countries on popular currency routes to sidestep high fees traditionally associated with international money transfers.

Last week, Wise limited daily transfers to Russia to 200 GBP (~$268.34) as move at the time to make sure they can provide their service to as many people as possible.

The European Union with their allies announced commitment to take action against Russia’s central bank and remove certain selected, but undefined Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.

As a result of the new restrictions, Wise suspended all money transfers to Russia. The company has also capped transfers to Ukraine, citing increasing difficulties operating its service in the country.

It added in a blog post that it plans to remove that cap as soon as it can, and said it had waived fees on more than 500,000 GBP (~$671,000) of personal transfers to Ukraine “to help customers who may have emergency needs.”