Translators to their own – Newspaper Kommersant No. 236 (7437) dated 12/20/2022

The bill on increasing the limit of transfers without commission between one’s accounts in different banks can be approved by the State Duma in the first reading as early as this week. However, then the document may undergo major changes. According to Kommersant, the limit level of 1.4 million rubles. not finalized. Moreover, a number of bankers are counting on a significant reduction in the limit, up to 300 thousand rubles. or even removing a specific figure from the bill entirely.

The Finance Committee of the State Duma recommended considering a draft law introducing a ban on the collection of commissions by banks when individuals transfer funds from their account in one bank to the details of their own account in another bank in the amount of up to 1.4 million rubles. per month. This condition will also apply to transfers through the fast payment system (FPS). An exception is made only for transfers from card to card, which will continue to be governed by the rules of the payment system. As one of the authors of the bill, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the committee on financial markets, told Kommersant, the document is scheduled to be considered in the first reading on December 21.

The draft law also provides for a ban on setting different rates on deposits depending on the source of funds and concluding other agreements simultaneously with a bank deposit agreement. As stated in the explanatory note, these innovations are being made “in order to prevent the possibility of credit institutions creating restrictive conditions for the free movement of funds between banks by individuals”, as well as to protect citizens “from the imposition of additional products and services” (see “Kommersant” from July 8).

Now commissions for transfers are regulated by the tariffs of banks. They can be 1–2% both for account details and for card transfers. At the same time, a number of banks have agreements for transfers without commission. For SBP up to 100 thousand rubles. per month you can transfer free of charge, and over this amount – 0.5%, but not more than 1.5 thousand rubles.

As explained in the Central Bank, commissions for transferring money to your account in another bank, in fact, are an economic way to retain a client. In turn, offering higher rates for “new” money is a marketing ploy that, in combination with a prohibitive transfer rate, worsens competition by preventing the consumer from choosing the best offer on the market for himself.

And the bill removes “excessive economic barriers that hinder competitive choice,” they say.

A number of participants support the provisions of the bill. Tinkoff Bank believes that the ban on charging fees should apply to all transfers through the payment system of the Bank of Russia (see Kommersant of September 20). The head of the National Payments Council (NPC), Alma Obayeva, explains that the limit of 1.4 million rubles. selected as the amount that the state guaranteed that it would return from any bank. She is also convinced of the need to exclude the influence of the origin of money on the deposit rate. “These maneuvers of banks are, as a rule, contrary to the interests of customers – they are drawn into some additional products, and it is unprofitable to leave uninteresting products. And it turns out some kind of deposit slavery,” says Ms. Obayeva.

According to a Kommersant source familiar with the situation, earlier the deputies asked representatives of the Central Bank to explain where the sum of 1.4 million rubles came from. per month and how the transfers are related to the deposit insurance system, but they did not receive logical explanations. And in the opinion of the Financial Committee of the State Duma on the bill, it was noted that the choice of such a maximum amount of the amount “is not entirely justified.” However, as Anatoly Aksakov explained to Kommersant, it can be revised. Regarding the ban on interest rate differentiation, MPs also note that it will make it impossible to apply incentive rates in cases where it is economically justified and meets the interests of clients.

A number of representatives of the banking community oppose the legislative ban on the collection of commission by the bank for any transfer of funds. In particular, as the head of the National Council of the Financial Market Andrey Yemelin notes, private clients have the opportunity to withdraw money without commission from a card at an ATM and put it where they see fit. In addition, according to him, when transferring through the SBP, the maximum amount of commission is set at 1.5 thousand rubles, and when transferring 1.5 million rubles. through the SBP, the client will pay a commission of 0.1% of the transfer amount. At the same time, he believes that the amount when transferring between his accounts in different banks without commission should not exceed 300 thousand rubles. per year, “and when transferring through the SBP the amount from which the Bank of Russia does not charge a commission from the bank.”

Maxim Buylov