The international payment service Wise has begun blocking cards issued to users from Russia and Belarus. The move follows the 19th package of European Union sanctions and further cuts many Russians and Belarusians off from global financial services. Customers are already receiving notifications that their cards will be disabled unless they confirm that they are citizens or legal residents of a country in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland.
What has Wise changed for its users
The restrictions cover both physical and virtual Wise cards linked to accounts held by Russian or Belarusian citizens, as well as by people who live in Russia. For these users, card functionality is being switched off. They can no longer pay in shops or online with their Wise card. They cannot withdraw cash from ATMs. They also lose the option to rely on the card to top up their balance, pay for digital subscriptions or cover everyday expenses abroad.
At the same time, Wise is not completely closing accounts. Even if the card is blocked, users can still send money, receive transfers, hold funds in different currencies and convert money inside the Wise app. In practice this means that the card as an everyday payment instrument disappears, but the account survives as a limited digital wallet.
Who can keep their Wise card
Wise is leaving a legal corridor for part of its client base. To preserve full card functionality, an affected customer must show that they no longer fall under the EU sanctions criteria. To do this, they have to provide documents proving citizenship of an EEA country or Switzerland, or a valid residence permit in one of these states.
These documents must be uploaded to the Wise profile by 30 January 2026. If the customer cannot confirm their status, the card will remain blocked after that date, even though the account will continue to work as a restricted wallet.
What Wise is and why this matters for Russia
Wise is a European fintech company that built its business on low cost international transfers and multi currency accounts. Previously known as TransferWise, it has become a key tool for people who live, work or do business across borders. Users can hold balances in several currencies at the same time, receive payments through local account details in different countries and pay abroad without the traditionally high bank fees. For freelancers, IT specialists and small entrepreneurs, the service offered a simple way to work with foreign clients and platforms.
For many citizens of Russia, especially after the introduction of wide ranging sanctions, the partial disconnection of banks from SWIFT and tighter currency controls, Wise became one of the few convenient windows into the global financial system. Through this service, freelancers and IT workers received payments from foreign companies, small businesses settled with international partners, and private individuals sent and received cross border transfers, paid for services abroad and maintained savings in foreign currencies. Now, for a large share of these users, that window is effectively closing.In economic terms the impact can be compared, within the financial sphere, to an explosion at a large oil refinery. When a refinery goes out of operation, fuel supplies suffer, logistics become more complicated and costs rise. Industry starts to feel the shock directly. When access to a service on the scale of Wise is cut, another type of fuel is disrupted, the flow of money. There are fewer channels through which foreign currency can enter the country. Cooperation with foreign customers becomes harder. Dependence on the domestic banking system and on state controlled infrastructure increases. It is not a one time spectacular incident, but a slow and noticeable tightening of the financial noose around ordinary citizens and small business.
The 19th EU sanctions package and pressure on Russian payments
The Wise decision is directly linked to the 19th package of EU sanctions, where the European Union moves from isolated restrictions against individual banks to systemic pressure on the wider Russian payment infrastructure. The document includes a ban on transactions with the National Payment Card System of Russia, the operator of Mir cards. Additional restrictions relate to the Russian Faster Payments System. Exceptions are made only for operations that are necessary for the functioning of EU and member state diplomatic and consular missions in third countries.
By doing this, European regulators are signalling that any financial infrastructure connected to Russia will be under close scrutiny. International services operating under European jurisdiction are left with little room to manoeuvre. Either they adjust their policies in line with sanctions or they face legal and regulatory risks.
How Revolut is changing its policy
Wise is not the only service changing the rules for Russians and Belarusians. The British fintech company Revolut has already started freezing accounts held by Russian citizens who do not have a residence permit in the EU. According to user reports, customers without European residence lost the ability to pay from their accounts, their card payments stopped going through, and it became impossible to top up balances or withdraw cash from ATMs.
Restrictions also affect business accounts owned by citizens of Russia and Belarus. Their holders began to receive urgent notifications demanding that they upload documents to prove compliance with new EU rules. If they fail to do so, they risk ending up under similar limitations, with frozen cards and narrowed functionality.
What this means for users and the fintech market
For people in Russia and Belarus the message is clear. International fintech platforms are no longer a reliable way to bypass sanctions. Even services that presented themselves as neutral technology companies are now forced to make tough decisions to avoid breaking European law. Access to global card products and to foreign currencies is becoming more closely tied to legal status in Europe, to citizenship or legal residency.
For the fintech market the situation confirms that sanctions policy is gradually reshaping the architecture of cross border payments. Services like Wise and Revolut are effectively pushed to choose between strict compliance with the sanctions regime and a complete exit from high risk markets. The idea of borderless digital finance is proving to be firmly anchored to political borders and regulatory decisions.
Instead of a conclusion
The blocking of Wise cards and the tightening of restrictions at Revolut show that the financial isolation of Russia and Belarus is no longer limited to the traditional banking sector. It now reaches digital wallets, international apps and the tools many people rely on for remote work and everyday international payments.
For millions of users the loss of Wise is not a minor inconvenience. It is a step backwards in their ability to interact with the global economy, earn income from abroad and preserve some degree of financial autonomy. In this sense the blow to Wise users in Russia is comparable to a strike on critical infrastructure. It is not always immediately visible from the outside, but it directly affects how the fuel of a modern economy, money, can move into and out of the country.
Material prepared for 100 NEWS.