The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has abolished a restriction of 150 000 UAH per month for transfers of individuals between cards. This decision was made possible by the implemented measures that made it possible to reduce the risks of using payment infrastructure for illegal activities. This was reported by the NBU press service on Tuesday, April 1.
Last year, the NBU recorded an abnormal spike in the volume of transfers between the accounts of individuals, which was often used for illegal financial schemes. As a result, a temporary regulatory restriction on translations was introduced, which allowed individuals to transfer up to 150,000 UAH per month. This restriction aimed to reduce the risks associated with the use of payment infrastructure in criminal schemes.
According to the NBU representatives, the introduction of the limit helped to conceive an increase in the number of open payment cards that took place in September-October last year, and also reduced the volume of operations between individuals. In addition, the introduction of restrictions and active communication with banks achieved important results in the fight against drops - persons who use bank cards to legalize illegal funds.
In response to the challenges, the NBU also developed and signed a memorandum on transparency of the payment services market, which was joined by most banks serving retail customers. This made it possible to strengthen control over payment transactions and reduce the risks of using payment cards for criminal schemes.
Financial institutions are actively improving their payment systems for payment transactions to meet the new NBU requirements, and law enforcement agencies continue investigating illegal schemes. In addition, the NBU has developed the concept of the Register of Persons in need of increased control of payment transactions, which is planned to be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada in April.
The NBU stated that it would continue monitoring the situation in the financial market and working on other initiatives to improve the efficiency of combating illegal schemes, including drops. If necessary, the National Bank is ready to take additional regulatory measures.
