Russian banks rush to switch to Chinese card system
Commenter Ray So-Cal must have a direct line to somebody:
Russian banks rush to switch to Chinese card system
Reuters ^Several Russian banks said on Sunday they would soon start issuing cards using the Chinese UnionPay card operator's system coupled with Russia's own Mir network, after Visa and MasterCard said they were suspending operations in Russia.
Announcements regarding the switch to UnionPay came on Sunday from Sberbank (SBER.MM), Russia's biggest lender, as well as Alfa Bank and Tinkoff.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
It must be nice to have so much money you can just kiss all Russian business goodbye as it leaves for your huge Chinese competitor.
China built up a system where there are alternatives as much as possible for Western Technology. This was done through joint ventures that forced technology sharing, or just banning Western Internet services (Facebook, Google, Twitter) to allow local alternatives to flourish in a protected market. I believe something similar has been done in financial stuff such as credit cards, forcing the use of union pay in China (it works at all Chinese atm’s).
Lots of western internet services, such as payment processors, have political tests for customers. If you get on the naughty list of southern poverty law center, you will get kicked off Amazon, PayPal, and many other internet services. Deplatforming happens. A conservative website I talked to the founder mentioned they were forced to migrate to a new site, and the new provider would not have taken the if they were on the southern poverty list.
Us Banks have also been politicized to go after gun related businesses. Big tech used Jan 6 as an excuse to censor trump from Facebook, Twitter, and Google.
In Russia in the Yeltsin era there was a free for all where Western financial institutions and others were allowed in, such as Visa and Mastercard, with no control. Not like China.
Now with Western Sanctions, Putin is using it to reduce Western technology and financial influence / power. This is a huge win for Putin, and the West gets the blame for the accompanying pain for the transition to non Western controlled alternatives.
CTH and others submit that the fusion of big biz/big tech and big government/WEF/etc means that the consolidation of the new world order proceeds apace.
QUESTION: could not this Russian invasion restore the idea of the nation-state, or at least a bi-polar world order? The green agenda is on the ropes (at least for now). Trust is on the ropes. Single-handedly Vlad has renewed 'patriotism' in Ukraine and elsewhere. What's next?