The bank has blocked the account. What to do?

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Natalya decided to open a spice store. She tried to send money to her Indian partner, but the bank did not process the transaction and blocked Natalia’s card. We tell you why a bank may refuse to complete a transaction, block remote access to an account and the account itself, and how to act in such a situation.

Account blocking, when customers completely lose access to their money, is a last resort. Banks only use it against terrorists and extremists.

But entrepreneurs may find themselves in a more common situation when the bank stops all payments except for mandatory ones – for example, tax payments. As soon as the debt that blocked the transfers is closed, any transactions will be available to you again.

The bank may also limit remote banking services (RBS). At the same time, the account itself continues to work and the client can manage his money. However, you can only make a payment or transfer at a bank office.

In what cases can banks refuse to carry out transactions and disable RBS?
Banks compete with each other for clients. It is in their interests to serve entrepreneurs as quickly as possible and not create problems for their business. But in some cases, financial institutions are required to suspend transactions, refuse an operation, or limit remote access to an account. Let’s figure out in what cases this happens.

Fraud protection

Each bank has criteria for suspicious transactions. For example, a transfer of an unusually large amount (by the standards of your business) or to an unusual counterparty (for example, a foreign company) could be a cyber fraud. In this case, the bank will suspend the transaction for up to 48 hours and contact the account holder to confirm or cancel the payment. If the transfer goes through the card, it will also be temporarily blocked.

What to do? If you make the payment and not the scammers, you don’t have to do anything. After 48 hours, the card will be automatically unlocked and the operation will proceed. But it is better to immediately contact the bank, clarify the reason for stopping the operation and confirm the transaction. You can read more about how banks protect customers from cyber thieves in the material “ My card is blocked. What to do? ”

Tax evasion

This is a common reason why entrepreneurs face temporary account blocking. By order of the tax inspectorate, the bank can extrajudicially suspend all operations on all business accounts.

Typically, the reasons for such actions lie in the fact that you did not file a tax return on time or did not pay taxes. In any case, the tax office must tell you in advance why it is going to suspend transactions on your accounts. The decision is handed over personally against a signature or sent to your personal account on the website of the Federal Tax Service of Russia.

What to do? If you have not received a decision from the tax inspector, and the bank says that it acted on the orders of the Federal Tax Service, then first of all you need to find out from the tax office the reason for blocking the account. Then you should eliminate the violation as quickly as possible: file a return, pay taxes. Tax payments can be made even from a frozen account. After this, submit documents to the Federal Tax Service confirming that the violation has been eliminated.

Within one or two days, the tax office will cancel the decision to suspend operations and notify the bank about it. The bank will immediately give you full access to the account.

Suspicion of money laundering

According to Law No. 115-FZ (commonly called the AML/CFT law), banks are required to combat the laundering of illegal proceeds and the financing of terrorism. If the bank sees signs of a possible violation of the law, it will not carry out the transaction and will demand an explanation from the client.

Natalya faced exactly this situation. The bank saw a transfer for a large amount abroad, but the payment slip did not indicate to whom, for what, and according to what documents the payment was made. According to the bank’s criteria, such an operation falls into the category of questionable, possibly violating the AML/CFT law.

Banks often refuse to carry out a transaction if the client withdraws large amounts from accounts immediately after they are credited. Or if the transaction is out of line with the client’s usual transactions, and the purpose of the payment does not correspond to the company’s activities.

The bank can also restrict access to a remote personal account and mobile application. You will be able to view account information, but will not be able to conduct transactions remotely. In addition, the bank may block the corporate card that is linked to your current account.

What to do? The most important rule is to be prepared for open dialogue. If the bank asks you for additional information and documents that confirm the economic sense and legality of the transaction, try to provide them.

The bank will set a deadline within which you must provide the data. He has the right to invite you to a meeting. Or a bank employee can come to your office or business.

The bank then analyzes the information received. If the situation becomes clearer and the bank no longer has any reason to suspect you of dishonesty, the money will be transferred to the recipient.

Otherwise, the bank will not only not carry out the operation, but may also limit remote servicing. And if within a year the bank refuses to carry out the operation twice, then it has the right to stop servicing you altogether and terminate the bank account agreement.

The bank will transmit information about the refusal to carry out a transaction or closure of an account to the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring). There they collect information from all financial organizations and create a unified database of cases of refusal to people and companies that allegedly violate the AML/CFT law. This database is also commonly called the “black list” or “refuse list” .

Then the Bank of Russia sends information about refusals to all banks and financial institutions.

This does not mean that a person or company that is on this list will receive a “black mark” and will be automatically rejected everywhere. But financial institutions will definitely pay closer attention to such a client: additional questions may arise about the economic meaning of his operations. In the worst case scenario, this could result in a denial of service.