Raiffeisenbank, Tochka Bank clients encounter difficulties due to revocation of Qiwi Bank license

MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Raiffeisenbank customers cannot pay for cell service and other services via online banking due to the revocation of Qiwi Bank's license.

"We are experiencing a glitch, payments for mobile communications and services cannot currently be processed," reads the message displayed when attempting to log into online banking platforms.

"Payment for mobile services and some providers of other services is temporarily not available in Raiffeisen Online." This is due to the revocation of the license of Qiwi Bank, through which payments for services of some companies were being processed. We are working on a solution and will inform you as soon as payment become available," the Raiffeisebank press service told Interfax.

Some Tochka clients also encountered difficulties. The service worked through Tochka Bank (which was granted a license by the Central Bank in February 2023) and Qiwi Bank.

The revocation of the Qiwi Bank license affected Tochka customers who were served through a branch of this lender. "For such clients, new options and offers will be launched in the near future, including for foreign economic activity," the Tochka press service told Interfax.

"Due to restrictions from the Central Bank, it is impossible to withdraw cash, make a transfer, exchange currency or pay with a card linked to a Qiwi bank account. Customers will be able to recover their funds, including using DIA mechanisms. We will inform you about recovery of funds in the near future, while at the moment we are clarifying the information," a spokesperson said.

He stressed that Tochka continues to operate as before, using its own banking license. "Qiwi Bank and Tochka Bank are different legal entities, so the revocation of Qiwi Bank's license does not affect our operations. The majority of Tochka services and products are operating normally," the company said.

Metallinvestbank announced earlier in the day that transactions were unavailable due to the revocation of Qiwi Bank's license. "Due to the revocation of Qiwi Bank's license on February 21, 2024 payment for cellular, Internet and other services that are carried out through the Qiwi service in the mobile application, online banking and ATMs will be temporarily unavailable," the lender said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the CBR revoked the banking license of Qiwi Bank. The regulator made the decisions due to the bank's violation of federal laws, including anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), and CBR regulations.

Kiwi Bank ranked 73rd in terms of assets in the Interfax-100 ranking prepared by Interfax-CEA at the end of 2023 with assets of RUB 77.6 billion.