Russia’s Tinkoff banking app has been removed from the App Store

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian digital lender Tinkoff Bank said on Thursday it had removed its mobile applications from Apple’s App Store after the European Union imposed sanctions last week.

Tinkoff, owned by TCS Group Holdings, was included in the European Union’s tenth package of sanctions against Russia last week as the latest punishment for Moscow’s military operations in Russia.

Tinkoff was forced to suspend trading in euros following the ban on Monday and has now removed its app from the App Store, it said.

In a statement, Tinkoff asked its customers to “remain calm” and that those who had already installed the app would continue to have full functionality.

“Already installed apps will work as usual, you can still transfer money, top up your account and perform other operations,” it said.

Tinkoff’s brokerage app, used by millions of Russian retail investors, has been removed from the App Store.

Other major Russian lenders that were previously sanctioned by the EU or the US also had their apps removed from the Apple and Google platforms shortly after the sanctions were introduced.

As a branchless digital-only bank, millions of Tinkoff’s clients rely on its online services for their daily banking needs.

Founded as a specialist credit card issuer by entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov, now an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, Tinkoff has grown rapidly over the past decade and is listed as one of 13 systemically important financial institutions by Russia’s central bank.

Russian state media reported on Thursday that several small lenders approved by the EU had removed their apps from online stores on Thursday.

Tinkoff said it is working on a solution so users can download their apps in the future.

(Reporting by Jack Cordell and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Thomas Janowski)