Georgian banks stop using Golden Crown due to US sanctions

In recent days, several Georgian banks have stopped cooperating with the Zolotaya Korona money transfer system. TBC Bank removed the possibility of using this service from its mobile application, and Bank of Georgia started rejecting transfers made through Zolotaya Corona.

The reason for this decision was U.S. sanctions imposed on the system’s developer, Center for Financial Technologies. These sanctions prohibit U.S. companies and financial institutions from doing business with organizations associated with the Russian regime, which has a significant impact on the Zolotaya Korona system, which allowed cross-border transfers from Russia to Georgia and other countries.

Zolotaya Korona explained its position by pointing to the need to comply with the sanctions regimes established by foreign partners and settlement banks. The company’s press service noted that they are forced to comply with the requirements of partners who refuse to conduct transactions with banks under sanctions. In particular, clients of Russian banks, such as Tinkoff, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, which have fallen under sanctions and are disconnected from the international SWIFT system, significantly complicating international financial transactions, have had problems with transfers.

Till recently, Zolotaya Korona remained one of the few available options for transferring money between Russia and a number of foreign countries such as China, Turkey, Kazakhstan and others. Now, with the new restrictions, customers are looking for alternative ways to make money transfers, which creates additional challenges in international financial transactions.

At the same time, Zolotaya Corona has become the only option available for international financial transactions.

Impact on the remittance market

These events may significantly affect the money transfer market, especially between Russia and Georgia. “Zolotaya Korona” was one of the leaders in the number of transactions between these countries, providing convenient and fast services for sending money in various currencies. With its discontinuation, Georgian users are forced to look for other, perhaps less convenient and more expensive ways to transfer funds.

Experts believe that the current situation may lead to an increase in demand for alternative platforms and money transfer services that are not under sanctions and are not connected to Russian financial institutions. At the same time, the disconnection of Zolotoy Korona from Georgian banking systems may also increase the focus on domestic Georgian financial institutions and systems.

Some experts believe that the current situation may lead to an increase in demand for alternative remittance platforms and services that are not sanctioned and are not linked to Russian financial institutions.