According to the Kommersant publication, the expert believes that the Sberbank and Alfa-Bank applications will soon be removed from the App Store and Google Play due to the imposition of sanctions against these organizations, as was done with the VTB Online application ".

According to the expert, this will not be done in the near future, since international transactions to complete operations with Sberbank are allowed by the United States until April 13, and with Alfa-Bank until May 6.

If the Sberbank and Alfa-Bank mobile applications are removed from the App Store and Google Play, users will be able to use the current versions of the applications for some time. For the Android OS, most likely, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank will make it possible to download their applications directly from banks' websites. But this reduces the level of user security, as they can follow a phishing link to a similar site and install clone applications compromised by attackers to steal data.

If applications are removed from the App Store, iPhone owners can only use mobile banking through a browser. It is noteworthy that when the VTB Online application was removed from the App Store, even the versions installed by users stopped working and gave the error “This application is not currently available in your country or region.”

Sber already has a website with tips for updating its app, but there is no link to download the local version for Android yet.

On April 6, 2022, the media reported that the US Treasury had imposed full blocking sanctions against the Russian bank Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, the country's largest private bank. The sanctions include the freezing of bank assets and the imposition of a ban on US citizens and companies from doing business with them. Restrictive sanctions involve a complete blocking of assets and transactions of Sberbank and Alfa-Bank.

After that, Sberbank and Alba-Bank stated that they continue to work as usual, including their applications and Internet banking.

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