Changes to federal law
Amendments to 161-FZ “On the National Payment System”, developed by the Central Bank, suggest that any Russian bank will have to return money within 30 days after determining the fact of transferring money without the consent of the customer, informs RBC.
“The current law does not provide for a period in which banks must reimburse customers for funds stolen by intruders. The Central Bank of Russia proposes to set the terms of such repayments. This is necessary to maintain the balance of interests of credit institutions and their customers, a representative from the Central Bank told the publication.
According to him, the discussion of these measures with the market continues.
“Originally, the Central Bank proposed to set a return period of 2-3 days, but the banks were against it, since during this time it is impossible to check whether the transfer was really fraudulent or whether the customer is trying to deceive the bank. Now the return time depends on the amount of stolen funds. With large volumes (the term is socialbites.ca), it can take several weeks, ”says Alexei Voylukov, vice-president of the Banks Association of Russia.
Refund Terms
According to the amendments developed, the sender’s bank must promptly return all stolen funds after receiving a corresponding application from the client – an individual – in the following cases.
First, if the money transfer was made without the consent of the customer and the bank did not send him a notification of the transaction, the stolen money must be refunded. In addition, a refund will be issued if the customer loses the card or is used without his consent. But in this case, the client must immediately report these facts to the bank. If a person did not warn the bank about the loss of control over payment instruments, the money will not be returned to him.
The article states that amendments to the federal law “On the National Payment System” do not contain “propositions to determine the amount of money required for return.”
“The main prerequisites for changing the law are: the observed picture of the share of returns of funds to customers, the need for a significant modernization of the anti-theft mechanism and the return of funds deleted from customer accounts,” he said. Vadim Uvarov, head of the Central Bank’s information security department.
According to the Central Bank of Russia, in 2021, fraudsters stole 13.5 billion rubles from bank customers using money transfers. At the same time, credit institutions returned only 920.5 million rubles – 6.8% of the total amount. It is noted that on the background of the increase in the volume of theft, the level of return of funds fell for the second year in a row. Thus, in 2020, banks returned 11.3% to customers, and in 2019 – 14.6%.
The effectiveness of innovation
An anonymous representative of VTB told RBC that if the changes are passed, it will be possible to more quickly identify transactions without customer approval and prevent “low accounts” (fake accounts of front people). He also believes that first of all it is necessary to work not with its consequences, but with the causes of the theft of funds.
“The banking community should step up measures to combat drips, including suspending suspicious transactions. “Controlling the movement of funds and authorizing banks to freeze will help reduce fraudulent activity,” he explained.
In contrast, the Pen & Paper Bar Association’s St. Petersburg office, Aleksey Dobrynin told the publication that the current law only sets a deadline for the consideration of a refund application, the exact time for the refund has not yet been determined. established.
“In practice, it is often impossible to return the money if the transaction is found to be fraudulent or if the bank’s customer has applied with a similar statement,” said the expert.
He explained that most of the funds taken into the account of the person who received the money were immediately converted into cash. The lawyer is confident that blocking the account for five days can improve the situation with the return of the stolen funds.
Central Bank recommendations
April 15 Central Bank suggested In order to assess the risks of violating the rules for the use of electronic payment instruments of banks (cards, mobile applications and personal accounts of Internet banking), unauthorized money transfers belonging to persons whose information about the transactions have already been entered into the database of the customer.
“When atypical transactions are detected on the cards and accounts of persons included in the database of the Bank of Russia, banks are invited to temporarily suspend remote access to account management. This will make it harder for attackers to withdraw funds and increase the likelihood of returning them to the rightful owner. At the same time, the Bank of Russia recommends that the client be notified of the suspension, stating the reason. It is possible to resume the action of electronic payment instruments after the customer’s personal application to the bank, ”the financial regulator said.
It was noted that the recommendations were developed as a result of consultations with banks and that the suspension of dropper operations would increase their effectiveness.
“Banks today have sufficient information about their customers, the nature and volume of their transactions. Therefore, they should assess the risk of using electronic payment instruments for illegal purposes in case of unusual activity on the customer’s account. Conscientious account holders should not be afraid to limit the functioning of payment instruments.
Source: Gazeta
