Tochka Bank intends to pay clients amounts blocked on Qiwi accounts

Tochka Bank announced its readiness to pay, at its own expense, amounts frozen in the accounts of clients operating on the basis of a Qiwi Bank banking license. According to the release of Tochka (available to Kommersant), the total amount of payments could reach 8 billion rubles.

The Bank intends to pay amounts to those entrepreneurs whose losses are not covered by payments from the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA). Accounts were opened for about 20 thousand clients (3% of the total number of Tochka clients) using a Qiwi Bank license. The total amount of funds in these accounts is 8 billion rubles.

“Taking a significant risk, but solving the client’s problem as quickly as possible is a matter of principle. For us, the client is more important than money,” the press service quotes Tochka CEO Andrei Zavadskikh as saying. According to him, blocking access to accounts for many clients has become a “critical situation”, which means a stoppage of activities and the collapse of the entire business.

The release notes that payments to entrepreneurs will be made through the purchase of rights of claim against Qiwi Bank from Tochka clients. Payments will be sent to accounts opened under the Tochka license. If the balance in the Qiwi Bank account was kept in foreign currency, the payment will be received in rubles at the Central Bank exchange rate as of February 21. The first payments are planned to be made on March 5, the first payments from the DIA – no later than March 6.

On February 21, the Bank of Russia revoked the license of Qiwi Bank. Using this license, Qiwi Bank clients also carried out export-import payments and used overdrafts. The DIA reported that owners of Qiwi Bank electronic wallets can return the money by submitting an application to the state corporation. You can return an amount of up to 1.4 million rubles. Tochka clients included in the list of DIA depositors will receive the difference between 1.4 million rubles. and the account balance. Clients who do not meet the DIA criteria will receive the entire amount held in the account at the time the license was revoked.

Clients of Tochka and Otkritie began carrying out transactions through Qiwi Bank in 2017. Until November 2021 Qiwi (MOEX: QIWI) owned 40% of Tochka, later Otkritie Bank became the owner of the share. At the beginning of 2023, Tochka received its own banking license, but some clients remained in the service of Qiwi Bank.

Read more about the consequences of revoking the license of Qiwi Bank in the Kommersant article. “Citizens’ Qiwi wallets were cut off”.