Banks impose restrictions on gambling funds transactions
8 August 2024 12:05
Banks have restricted transactions with the MMC code (business category code) “Gambling” to the card “credit limit”. This was reported by Maryna Pavlenko, a leading expert in financial monitoring at GLOBUS BANK, Komersant ukrainskyi 
reports.
According to her, such restrictions are in line with the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine No. 72 dated 21 June 2024 “On Amendments to the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine No. 18 dated 24 February 2022” pursuant to the NSDC Decision of 20 April 2024 “On Counteracting the Negative Effects of Gambling on the Internet”.
“Banks have initiated certain settings and restrictions that make it impossible for customers to conduct “gambling” transactions using credit funds,” she said.
In addition, according to the expert, such restrictions can be considered part of a global strategy to combat black p2p transfers, which involves the introduction of limits on the number of transactions and amounts.
“It should be noted that the new possible restrictions on the amount (up to UAH 100 thousand per month) and the number of transactions (30 transactions per month) will apply exclusively to p2p transfers (from card to card). At the same time, other funds may be credited to the account (salary, pension, scholarship, assistance from relatives, etc.). Such restrictions do not apply to payments in retail chains or the purchase of any goods. Thus, for the average cardholder, there will be no changes in essence: more than 95% of citizens will not feel the new “limits”,” the banker said.
Maryna Pavlenko, leading expert on financial monitoring at GLOBUS BANK
She spoke about the algorithm for detecting suspicious transactions carried out for illegal purposes, which may also be related to the cardholder’s participation in illegal online gambling.
For example, commercial banks scrutinise atypical activity of an electronic payment instrument compared to other periods (for example, a sharp increase (many times) in the number of card payments on certain days), and an increase in the volume of financial transactions not supported by official documents. Banks also analyse whether transactions match the available data about the customer (his or her place of work, source of income, etc.) and study the online resources where the customer buys goods, pays for services or receives funds.
“Most customers using p2p banking services usually make a small number of transactions for small amounts. Therefore, excessive/increased activity on their part is always carefully analysed. Indirectly, the bank may be involved in or become an accomplice to possible illegal actions. A financial institution’s reputation is built over years, and it can be lost due to a single, but high-profile scandal,” emphasised Maryna Pavlenko.
She noted that in order to avoid misunderstandings between the client and the bank, it is important to have an efficient “communication chain”: on the one hand, the bank creates special consulting units to provide clients with comprehensive and in-depth information upon request. On the other hand, such communication involves a counter “movement” – a timely response of the client to the bank’s requests, provision of additional information and documents by the client that will become the basis for the desired transactions without any obstacles.
The expert stressed the importance of maintaining “customer hygiene”.
First of all, you should never agree to offers of “easy money” for transferring funds. All that is required to allegedly “earn money” is to open a new bank account or transfer your old account, including details and access to online banking, to third parties. For this, they offer a one-time fee or a percentage of the amount of payments made.
According to her, pensioners, students, and people with low incomes often agree to such offers . And they often do not think about the consequences of such actions.
by “selling” their data for relatively little money, clients expose themselves to big problems. After all, the regulator plans to create special centralised registers that will contain the data of persons involved in such or similar “schemes”. This data will be used by all participants in the banking and financial markets. Accordingly, citizens who have fallen for the fraudsters’ “hook” will face restrictions on access to banking services and may have problems with employment. That’s why we advise you to always be cautious: a “penny” benefit is not worth losing your “financial freedom”,” Maryna Pavlenko summed up.
Reference:
JSC GLOBUS COMMERCIAL BANK was founded in 2007. As of July 2024, the regional network includes 31 branches. All branches of the bank are part of the united Power Banking network, which allows them to operate in the absence of electricity.
