Starting 1 October 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine will temporarily set a limit of UAH 150,000 per month for card-to-card transfers (also known as P2P, C2C) for six months.
According to the NBU press service, the limit applies only to outgoing transfers across all accounts opened with the same bank to accounts of other individuals. The limit does not apply to the accounts of volunteers who meet the criteria set out in the resolution and persons whose monthly income from confirmed sources exceeds the amount of the limit. It also applies to transfers of funds between the client's own accounts opened with the same bank and to transfers of legal entities. Transactions using IBAN details are not restricted.
The National Bank clarified that 98% of bank customers make monthly transfers that do not exceed the specified amount, so the restrictions will not affect their financial activity in any way.
The temporary limit on the amount of card-to-card transfers will prevent the payment infrastructure from being used for illegal purposes. In particular, this refers to the use of drop accounts, which are a common mechanism for the shadow economy.
Drops are people who transfer their card account details and data to third parties for payment. These accounts are used as ‘transit’ accounts for transferring and laundering illegal funds.
‘It is difficult to assess the scale of the problem of using drops due to the imitation of the usual behaviour of an individual, but in general, the system involves tens of thousands of dormant and already active accounts,’ the NBU said.
According to several major banks, in 2024, business relations with more than 80,000 customers have already been terminated due to participation in drop schemes. The amount and number of card-to-card transfers show a steady upward trend in all groups of banks, regardless of the volume of card business
About UAH 200 billion a year can be transferred through drop cards.
This limit will help minimise the use of the payment infrastructure for illegal activities, including the use of drop accounts. The six-month restriction period will be used to develop joint solutions to address this problem. These include legislative changes, the creation of a register of compromised cards, and stricter requirements for banks to detect atypical customer behaviour.