Citizens do not want to limit themselves – Newspaper Kommersant No. 187 (7388) of 10/10/2022

Since October, clients of credit institutions have been able to prohibit certain transactions on their accounts or set limits on them to protect against fraudsters. So far, bankers have not seen significant demand for these options. Nevertheless, according to experts, it may be in demand among the audience most vulnerable to scammers – pensioners.

In the first week of October, when bank customers were able to independently limit their online transactions or their parameters, the demand for these services was low, follows from a survey conducted by Kommersant among banks.

From October 1, customers can apply to the bank to restrict transactions through remote service channels (RBS). This follows from the instructions of the Central Bank U-6071. Some banks began to introduce such options even before the mandatory requirement of the Central Bank. So, VTB says that in September more than 850 thousand customers set restrictions on transactions, and from October 1 to October 7 – more than 200 thousand people. However, other banks have lower figures by orders of magnitude. Since the beginning of October, only about 30 clients have applied to Novikombank, who “clarified information on this service.” MKB rated demand in the first week as “moderate”. In PSB, Tinkoff-bank, Dom.RF bank, the demand is “low” or “still low”. Other banks did not provide information on the number of applications received.

According to bankers, the low demand is due to the fact that RBS are already equipped with protection and comply with security requirements. At the same time, in the second quarter of 2022, the second-ever result was recorded in terms of the volume of money stolen from the population through remote banking systems – 1.8 billion rubles.

Experts believe that the relatively low demand for such a service is explained by the fact that it is focused on a narrow target audience – mainly older citizens. According to Viktor Dostov, chairman of the board of the Association of Electronic Money and Money Transfer Market Participants, this option should be in greater demand in banks, where many salary accounts and accounts are opened to which pensions and social benefits are credited: “The function is rather social and can help protect vulnerable segments of society”. Also, such prohibitions may be relevant for customers who hold large amounts in their accounts, the expert notes.

So far, the main demand is associated with the establishment of limits on transfers, the banks indicate. Postbank customers most often use this service for children’s virtual cards. According to the Dom.RF bank, “this service will be used to a greater extent to restrict external transactions through remote channels than to prohibit obtaining loans, since the process of issuing a loan has rather strict requirements.”

According to Mr. Dostov, in general, the option may lead to some reduction in the volume of fraudulent transactions. “Of course, this is not a silver bullet, because scammers will think about how to get around this, too, but the measure is certainly useful,” he says. It would be logical to establish the possibility of such a ban both in the office and directly in the mobile application, and lifting the ban in the bank branch, he concludes.

Instruction requirements for banks are mandatory, explains the manager of RTM Group Evgeny Tsarev. “In fact, they boil down to the fact that bank customers should be able to limit the operation parameter (amount or limit) or limit it completely,” he continues. mobile bank, or be able to get it within certain limits. But the fact is that the clients themselves want to use RBS services, experts say.

The implementation of such an instrument in banks by the Central Bank will, of course, be checked, Mr. Tsarev believes. “Usually this is done during inspections by the Central Bank and audits by third parties,” he explains. license revocation.

Olga Sherunkova