A Dnipro woman was unable to withdraw cash from an Oschadbank ATM due to her account being frozen. Here's the court's decision on the matter.

A woman attempted to withdraw her funds from an Oschadbank ATM. However, she was unable to do so because her account has been frozen. This was stated in the decision of the Industrial District Court of Dnipro (the legal name of the court), published on November 25, 2024.

The woman is a client of the joint-stock company "State Savings Bank of Ukraine." To store and accumulate funds in the state currency, she opened accounts at Oschadbank, from which she also receives a pension and benefits as a person with a 2nd group disability. In 2023, she could not withdraw her own funds from the Oschadbank ATM, prompting her to contact a bank manager. After checking the account, the manager informed her that the account had been frozen by the enforcement service. The bank also indicated the freeze in response to her inquiry. When the lawyer inquired, the bank refused to provide an answer. Upon contacting the National Bank, she was told that she needed to provide additional documents to the bank. The enforcement service stated that there were no enforcement proceedings. She believes the bank's actions to block her accounts are unlawful.

"The freeze on the accounts was indeed not imposed; however, after the security department of Oschadbank identified a visual discrepancy in the signature line and the spelling of the surname, the bank, on June 5, 2023, aimed at minimizing business relationship risks, applied restrictive measures in the form of limits on the client's card account transactions, in accordance with subparagraph 3 of paragraph 68 of the NBU Resolution 'On Approving the Regulation on Financial Monitoring by Banks' No. 65 dated May 19, 2020, as amended at the time of the legal relationship," the case materials state.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the woman’s claim. She resides in a temporarily occupied territory and has not maintained business relations with Oschadbank since 2018, nor has she undergone identification/verification, including via videoconference.

"The security department of Oschadbank discovered that there was a visual discrepancy in the signature line and the spelling of the surname, and then the bank assessed her based on risk criteria related to the geographical location of the client's residence (location, registration) or institution through which she conducts asset transfer (receipt), and exercised its right under Article 15 of Law No. 361-IX, applying restrictive measures in the form of limits on the client's card account transactions. Therefore, the court found no grounds for satisfying the claim according to current legislation. The court also notes that the restrictive measures applied by the bank in the form of limits on the client's card account transactions are temporary and may be lifted by the bank itself after the citizen provides the necessary information (official documents) required for a proper check, as well as for the bank to fulfill other legal requirements in the field of preventing and countering the laundering of proceeds from crime, financing terrorism, and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the court emphasized.