Visa cards issued by Belarusian banks are now being equipped with a fresh feature
Starting September 1, 2025, Visa is implementing stricter conditions for free access to airport business lounges via premium cards. This global change aims to reduce overcrowding and maintain service quality at lounges worldwide.
The changes will impact Belarusian citizens, as several Belarusian banks, including TechnoBank, Alpha-Bank, Belagroprombank, Priorbank, have alerted their customers about these updates.
Under the new policy, Belarusian premium cardholders may face limitations such as:
- Shorter access times at lounges.
- Limits on multiple entries or the number of free visits per day.
- Potentially fewer or no complimentary guest entries.
For Visa Platinum, purchases must be from 700 rubles, for Visa Signature from 1,000, and for Visa Infinite from 1,400. It's worth noting that transactions made in the last five days before the flight are not counted towards the requirement.
In addition, operations conducted through foreign banks' payment systems are included in the turnover calculation for Visa lounge access. For instance, TechnoBank has specified that all transactions made in Belarus, serviced by banks such as Alpha-Bank, Belagroprombank, ASB Belarusbank, Belgazprombank, BNB-Bank, BSB-Bank, Neo Bank Asia, Bank "Resolution", MTBank, Paritetbank, Priorbank, StatusBank, TechnoBank, Cepter Bank, Bank RRB, are taken into account when calculating turnover for Visa lounge access.
Belarusian banks issuing Visa premium cards would need to update their terms accordingly and communicate these changes to their customers to align with Visa’s new global policy. Cardholders should be prepared for reduced lounge access freedoms compared to previous conditions.
In summary, the key impact is a global tightening of lounge access benefits for premium Visa cards, with Belarusian banks and holders also needing to follow these changes, resulting in less generous and more regulated lounge usage.
[1] Source: Visa's official announcement on the updated terms for free airport business lounge access using premium cards.
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