An account may be blocked, in particular, in the case of unusual payments or entry into sanction or risk lists.
In Ukraine, there are restrictions on card transfers of up to 100 thousand hryvnias per month, and for clients who meet the criteria of "high risk", - 50 thousand hryvnias. Since the new rules were introduced, clients have begun to massively complain about account blockages.
The director of the financial monitoring and currency supervision department of Unex Bank, Oksana Denysenko, told UNIAN that during the period of restrictions, the share of clients that the bank classifies as 'high-risk' with an automatic limit of 50 thousand hryvnias is small.
"This group includes those who exhibit specific risk signs or gaps in documentary confirmation,” explained the banker.
As a result of the blocks, the number of potentially dubious operations in the bank decreases, she noted.
In turn, the deputy chair of the board of 'Globus Bank', Anna Dovhalska, told UNIAN that among the clients subject to the 50 thousand UAH restriction, 80% were online channels (i.e., card transfers) and 20% were offline (at bank cash desks).
Both bank representatives insist that such restrictions are standard practice for financial institutions.
Who falls into the risk zone
Denysenko explained that blocks are applied selectively and as needed, when indicators of suspicion are triggered.
"Access is not automatically enabled for all clients but is activated when unusual payments are detected, when added to sanctions or risk lists, discrepancies in documents, significant deviations from the usual account behavior, etc.,” she said.
The banker mentioned that client complaints occur, especially if the restrictions affect urgent payments. But overall, according to her, this encourages Ukrainians to actively provide documents to confirm the sources of their funds.
Dovhalska, for her part, emphasized that a risky client is one about whom the bank has too little information.
"This means that the bank lacks confirmed information about such a user, their transactional behavior, or sources of funds to immediately provide them with broad operational capabilities. Some clients also belong to categories that do not need to regularly conduct transactions of significant amounts, so individual limits for them are logical and justified,” said the banker.
According to her, currently only 1.38% of clients of 'Globus Bank' have encountered transaction refusals.
"Gradual expansion of limits is possible after the bank obtains fuller information about the client, the regularity of their payments, and confirmed financial data,” she added.
