Visa said it stopped issuing and servicing payment cards in the region.
According to the company's Friday statement, MasterCard halts servicing payment cards issued by banks operating in Crimea.
The latest round of sanctions, which specifically targeted Crimea, was introduced by the European Union last week. On December 18, EU leaders banned all European investment in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
In 2014, Russia's Central Bank began financing the National Card Payment System (NCPS), as a way of ensuring the security of card payments inside Russia was raised after Visa and MasterCard suspended processing payments at Russia's SMP and Rossiya banks, which are subject to Western economic sanctions over Russia's alleged involvement into Ukraine's internal affairs.
