Russian banks consider Chinese UnionPay cards after sanctions
London, Mar 7: Leading Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after Visa and Mastercard said they would cut their services in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
Sberbank and Tinkoff Bank said on Sunday that they are considering the possibility of payment cards powered by China's UnionPay system. Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, said it would announce the launch date later.
Sberbank and Tinkoff told users that they will be able to use Visa and Mastercard for transactions within Russia but they will stop working for payments outside of the country after Wednesday.
The Russian central bank warned on Sunday that all cards using the Visa or Mastercard systems will stop working for both purchases on foreign websites and transactions abroad.
Russian banks are scrambling to find new ways to facilitate cross-border payments after a host of foreign companies suspended financial services, part of a larger move by the West to isolate Russia and cut it off from the global financial system.
Along with Visa and Mastercard, American Express also withdrew its services over the weekend.
They followed major brands from Apple to Shell and Ikea in pulling out of Russia. But China has reaffirmed its ties, with the foreign minister on Monday calling Russia Beijing's most important strategic partner.
China has refused to criticise the invasion of Ukraine but tried to distance itself by calling for dialogue and respect of national sovereignty.
The Chinese payment processor UnionPay benefits from its position as a payment monopoly bolstered by the large Chinese population and the world's second-largest economy, helping it to grow into a serious rival to Visa and Mastercard.
UnionPay cards are accepted at physical stores in 180 countries and regions and at online stores in 200 countries and regions, according to its website.
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Malaysian Indian sentenced to jail and caning for raping Indonesian woman in Singapore
Singapore (PTI): An Indian-origin Malaysian man was sentenced in Singapore to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane for raping a domestic worker outside a train station after tricking her into thinking that he was a police officer.
Sharveen Chetty, 48, pleaded guilty on February 4 to one charge of raping the 35-year-old Indonesian woman in the bushes outside Exit F of a subway, Little India Mass Rapid Transit station, at about 8pm on July 11, 2022.
The victim was with her friends at the time, but Chetty lured her away before he sexually assaulted her, according to a report by The Straits Times on Thursday.
Two other charges – a second rape charge and a charge of impersonating a police officer – were taken into consideration during sentencing on Wednesday.
The witnesses who testified on the first day of the trial included a doctor from Women’s and Children’s Hospital who examined the victim a day after the rapes, and forensic scientists from the Health Sciences Authority.
Chetty had initially contested the charges in a High Court trial that began on February 3. But he changed his mind and pleaded guilty on what would have been the second day of the trial, according to the daily report.
In sentencing, Justice Dedar Singh Gill considered it aggravating that Chetty had targeted the victim because she was a foreigner who might be unfamiliar with the local authorities.
The judge rejected the defence's arguments that the rape was not premeditated.
The judge, however, noted that Chetty had pleaded guilty before the victim and key prosecution witnesses testified, thus sparing her and her friends from going through cross-examination.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of between 11 and 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane, noting Chetty’s extensive efforts to disguise himself, and his predatory act of leading the victim away from the rest of the group.
Chetty admitted that he became sexually attracted to the victim.
