Visa payment system has suspended operation with sanctioned JSC Genbank in Crimea, the press service of the payment system has told Interfax-Ukraine.

"In accordance with OFAC [the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control] Regulations, Visa has suspended all business activity with Genbank and all activity will remain suspended until such time as the OFAC sanctions are lifted," the press service said.

According to a posting on the bank's website, Genbank from January 20, 2016 started working with Visa payment cards in Crimea in the national payment card system.

Genbank is the main bank of de-facto government of Crimea (in August 2015, 50% of its shares were bought by executive agencies of Crimea and Sevastopol). The bank has been operating on the market since 1993.

At present, over 170 departments were opened in the peninsula, over 580 ATMs and over 960 terminals were installed.

As reported, in late 2015, OFAC reported that the U.S. has substantially expanded its sanctions against individuals and entities, including sectoral sanctions, related to the crisis in Ukraine.

The companies and banks added to the SDN list, including those operating in Crimea or related to individuals and entities already on the list, include Genbank, Krayinvestbank, Inresbank, Mosoblbank, Tekhnopromexport and Volgogradneftemash, among others.