A deposit holder at Oschadbank lost 64,447 hryvnias from her account – here’s the court's ruling on the matter.

The woman had funds amounting to 99,000 hryvnias in her deposit account. However, subsequently, 64,447 hryvnias were withdrawn, which Oschadbank refuses to return. This is stated in the decision of the Ordzhonikidze District Court of Kharkiv, published on December 27, 2024.

On March 14, 2023, the woman entered into a bank deposit agreement titled "My Deposit," under which she transferred funds to the bank's deposit account in the amount of 99,000 hryvnias at an interest rate of 11.20% per annum, for a term of three months with automatic renewal according to Section 9 of the agreement. However, due to the improper fulfillment of its obligations by Oschadbank regarding the safekeeping of her funds, without her consent, 64,447 hryvnias were withdrawn from her bank account on June 15, 2023. In response, she immediately contacted the Kharkiv Regional Branch of the State Oschadbank of Ukraine in person, as well as the police. The citizen emphasizes that she never shared her personal data with third parties; she did not perform any actions that could lead to the withdrawal of funds, such as confirming a withdrawal request via SMS or otherwise, and did not violate the terms of the agreement with the bank.

"On June 13, 2023, in the remote service system "Oschad 24/7," the automatic renewal of the deposit was canceled, and the next day, after the deposit term ended, specifically on June 15, 2023, the bank returned the deposit amount of 99,000 hryvnias to the plaintiff's account. A notification of this financial transaction was sent via SMS to her financial phone number on June 15, 2023. Thus, the bank fully fulfilled its obligations under the bank deposit agreement dated March 14, 2023, and returned her deposit along with interest to her current card account. On the same day, through the remote banking service "Oschad 24/7," successful transactions were made from this account to transfer funds to another bank's card, "Taksombank," totaling 64,000 hryvnias. The payment card had been blocked by the client. Since access to the remote banking service "Oschad 24/7" and the fund transfer operations were carried out correctly, it is only possible with the registration code for the mobile application, which was sent to the client's financial phone, and the account details, which were known exclusively to the plaintiff. Therefore, according to paragraph 17.3.8 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the bank is not liable for the consequences of operations in the banking system carried out using the client's account; the responsibility for such operations lies solely with the client, not the bank. Furthermore, if the plaintiff believes that the funds were received by an unauthorized recipient as a result of the transfer, she has the right to address them with appropriate claims for the return of the funds," - stated Oschadbank.

What was the court's decision?

The court granted the woman's claim. The joint-stock company "State Oschadbank of Ukraine" will be ordered to pay her 64,447 hryvnias.

"The defendant, as a financial institution, violated the rights of the plaintiff, as a consumer of financial services, by committing unlawful actions, namely: unauthorized withdrawal of funds owed to her. The defendant did not provide adequate and permissible evidence to refute the plaintiff's claims. Considering the above, the claims are justified and should be satisfied in full. The court also agrees that the method of judicial protection chosen by the plaintiff complies with legal requirements," - emphasized the court.