A PrivatBank client refuses to repay a debt of 63,411 hryvnias, claiming she didn’t use the borrowed funds. What was the court's decision?

A woman is being asked to repay a debt of 63,411 hryvnias on a loan. However, she did not manage funds from PrivatBank, and therefore does not acknowledge the existence of the debt. This is stated in the decision of the Kitsman District Court of Chernivtsi Oblast, published on December 19, 2024.

PrivatBank demands that the woman repay the debt under loan agreement No. b/n dated December 25, 2013, amounting to 63,411 hryvnias. According to her, there was indeed an agreement for the provision of banking services made between her and JSC CB "PrivatBank" through the signing of an application form on December 25, 2013, and as a bank client, she used her card account. However, on the day when criminals committed illegal actions – September 4, 2023, she did not manage the bank's funds, did not withdraw money from her credit limit, did not transfer funds to other accounts, and did not purchase any goods on an installment payment plan; on September 4, 2023, she had no reason to suspect any illegal activities related to her bank account, and therefore could not immediately detect the fact of such illegal actions against the bank. She first noticed a shortage of funds in her account on October 4, 2023, a month after the fraudulent actions, when the bank first deducted about 200 hryvnias from her account for the operation "monthly payment for installment purchase."

On October 6, 2023, the woman filed a report with the police regarding the crime, which led to the initiation of a criminal case under part 4 of Article 190 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. She also contacted the bank on March 25, 2024, denying the payment transactions made by the criminals and not acknowledging the existence of the debt. In her opinion, the funds were stolen due to the bank's inadequate security system, and as a result of the improper application of material law, the bank unlawfully considers the debt on her bank account.

"On September 4, 2023, criminals reissued the SIM card of the client's financial phone, then hacked 'Privat-24', changing the password to the account, while the login was confirmed by the card's PIN code (the PIN code was likely transmitted) and via an IVR call from the bank," said PrivatBank.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the claim. The evidence available in the case materials did not support PrivatBank's arguments regarding the woman's compromise of her personal data for accessing 'Privat-24', card details, and conducting disputed transactions.

"The reference by JSC CB 'PrivatBank' to the fact that the defendant violated the terms and rules of providing banking services, as she contributed to the unlawful use of information that allowed a third party to initiate payment transactions, is solely based on assumptions that lack evidentiary support. Given the above, the court has no grounds to recover from the defendant in favor of the plaintiff the debt under loan agreement No. b/n dated December 25, 2013, in the amount of 63,411 hryvnias, since she did not use the specified funds, and therefore the claim should be denied in full," the court emphasized.