Payment minimum – Newspaper Kommersant No. 4 (7449) dated 01/12/2023

A bill obliging banks to reimburse citizens for funds written off by fraudsters within 30 days has received a new development. According to Interfax, the Ministry of Economy proposes to establish a minimum threshold for the amount of money, above which a refund will occur. At the same time, the bill establishes a requirement for banks to check all transfers of individuals to see if the recipient of funds is on the black list. If the bank transferred the money at the same time, it compensates for the entire stolen amount.

The problem of combating fraudsters still remains unresolved, and the measures taken are ineffective. The same bill has been repeatedly criticized by market participants, arguing that it will not be able to really protect anyone, and the costs of banks, which will have to check every transfer of citizens, will increase as expected. Nevertheless, the document has been submitted to the State Duma and is being prepared for the first reading.

The Ministry of Economy, according to Interfax sources, when making its proposals, takes care of conscientious recipients of funds. Indeed, with a continuous check of all customer transactions, their terms will be extended, which can lead to a violation of the fulfillment of obligations of funds to third parties. The ministry declined to comment, while the Central Bank only stated that they support the bill, noting that the current version does not contain a rule on the minimum amount threshold.

In general, the idea looks sound, since setting a lower threshold will allow banks not to check small transfers and thereby reduce costs. In addition, you can set a threshold that will not be critical for the client. For example, in the SBP, according to the Bank of Russia, the average transfer amount was about 5 thousand rubles. In addition, a citizen, having seen an SMS or a push notification about the transfer that he made, will be able to immediately call the bank and block the account or card. Thus, he will lose only a small part of the funds stored in the account.

However, the benefit is mutual only at first glance. The threshold will really help banks, saving them from the need to reimburse small amounts, but this will not save citizens from losing large amounts. After all, according to the bill, the bank is obliged to reimburse the stolen money only if the recipient of the funds was on the black list. It turns out that in any other case, everything happens according to the scheme that is still in force today: a statement to the police and a search for scammers with an unpredictable result.

But for the scammers themselves, additional prospects open up: they will be able to continue using accounts that are on the black list, simply transferring small amounts to them.