Tinkoff Bank halts outgoing currency transfers via SWIFT until October 1
MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) - Tinkoff Bank (SPB: TCS ) has temporarily halted outgoing SWIFT transfers in foreign currencies until October 1, 2022, the credit institution said in a statement.
"The decision has been taken because of the impossibility of providing an acceptable level of service to our clients owing to the daily tightening of requirements by Western counterparties and the severe decrease in the number of payments processed by these counterparties from Russian clients," the bank said.
"We hope to resume the service as the understandable rules and procedures are formed for rendering SWIFT payments for Russian clients by Western partners, and we will announce this later," Tinkoff Bank said.
Tinkoff Bank promises to execute pending SWIFT transfers from customers "within a reasonable timeframe. The average time for effecting SWIFT transfers for Russian clients is already several weeks, and will continue to increase because of the tightening of compliance procedures on the part of Western partners," the bank noted.
Tinkoff Bank is effecting incoming SWIFT transfers at the current rates, with the timing and possibility of crediting the accounts of Russian clients depending on the preparedness of the operators of the Western financial infrastructure to process payments for Russian clients, Tinkoff Bank said.
"We have been forced to suspend outgoing SWIFT payments until October 1. Tinkoff has been fighting for a long time to ensure that SWIFT transfers, which are 95% dependent on the Western payment infrastructure, remain a convenient way to transfer money for the country's residents. I must admit that we here at Tinkoff have found ourselves in the situation of a 'bad franchise' holder; and our efforts have not sufficed to ensure that Western partners would fulfill their end of the agreements within a reasonable and convenient time for our clients," Tinkoff Bank executive board chairman Stanislav Bliznyuk was quoted as saying in the message.
As of June 23, Tinkoff Bank has been charging a fee for card accounts in dollars, euros, pounds sterling, and Swiss francs, with a balance of more than 10,000 conventional units. The fee for accounts above the amount is 1% per month. Maintenance of accounts with balances of up to 10,000 conventional units remains free.
Tinkoff Bank assures that fewer than 5,500 clients today pay commission on foreign currency accounts. TCS Group had 22.7 million clients, including 15.8 million active ones, according to the results of the first quarter.
"Regarding restrictions on forex transactions, introducing commissions and fees is not the way to earn money, but, rather, an urging for the bank, as a financial partner of its clients, to change the structure of currency preferences urgently, taking into account geopolitical realities," Bliznyuk said.
Bliznyuk has promised to disclose information pertaining to funds received by the bank on accounts of fees and commissions on foreign currency accounts and transfers that are to be sent in the third quarter of 2022.