China UnionPay cards are now working again – Russian cards as an exception

The China UnionPay cards are now working again with Nosto ATMs in Finland. However, we have agreed with China UnionPay that Russian cards will still remain deactivated in Finland.

Russian tourists hoarded cash from the Nosto ATMs along the eastern border of Finland, especially in southeast Finland, in an unprecedented way during autumn 2022. At the time, the Nosto ATMs were sometimes emptied within just a few hours. This was a worrying situation as local residents were not able to withdraw any cash and use it in their daily lives during the worst of the times.

The Nosto ATMs had no other way to stop the situation at the time than to prevent the use of all China UnionPay cards at Finnish Nosto ATMs.

In the autumn, Nosto ATMs made the decision to deactivate all China UnionPay cards, including those granted by banks not sanctioned by the EU. This decision came with a severe cut to the company’s revenue at the time.

During the end of the last year, we have received several complaints and inquiries and plenty of feedback about the deactivation of China UnionPay cards, for example from Chinese students staying in Finland.

Now, China UnionPay cards are working again in Finland. However, Nosto ATMs have agreed with China UnionPay that Russian China UnionPay cards are still not active in Finland. Previously, this was not possible, and the company had no other way to prevent the massive cash withdrawals by Russians than to stop all use of China UnionPay cards at Finnish Nosto ATMs.