[October 15, 2008]

Some Ukrainian banks limit cash withdrawals from ATMs - daily

Oct 15, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --
Despite the demands of the National Bank of Ukraine [NBU] to ensure the trouble-free work of ATMs, bankers have started to introduce stricter restrictions on the issue of cash. Some have set a limit of 1,000 hryvnyas [about 200 dollars] a day. The only way to withdraw more is across the counter. At the NBU they say they are unable to influence this policy by banks even despite the financial crisis in the country.

The day after NBU resolution No 319 restricting the work of the banking system came into force, banks started to introduce restrictions on clients' cash withdrawals that were not foreseen by the regulators. The first restrictions concerned cash withdrawals from ATMs, Kommersant was told in the call centres of surveyed banks.

At Khreshchatyk bank they said that the daily limit is 350 dollars, which can be withdrawn in 20 operations [as received]. Rodovyd bank ATMs issue 500 hryvnyas per operation; those of Nadra - 1,000 hryvnyas a day, and up to 10,000 hryvnyas in branches.

Raiffeisen Bank Aval allows up to 5,000 hryvnyas a day to be withdrawn through ATMs, but it no longer offers the chance to remove the limit by calling the call centre. You can withdraw up to 25,000 hryvnyas over the counter.

However, not all banks have introduced strict limits. The daily limit for Ukrsibbank ATMs remains 20,000 dollars. The maximum withdrawal "for reasons of security" from Pryvat Bank ATMs and over-the-counter has remained at the level of 5,000 hryvnyas.

"You can take as much money as there is in the ATM. But if a large sum is being withdrawn (from an account - Kommersant) it is necessary to submit a request two days in advance because the bank might not have such a sum available," Kommersant was told in the call centre of Alfa-Bank.

The maximum withdrawal form Ukrsotsbank ATMs is 20,000 hryvnyas in five successful operations over a six hour period.

It should be noted that NBU resolution No 319 does not mention limits on cash withdrawals from ATMs (during the 2004 crisis [the so-called Orange Revolution], a limit of 1,500 hryvnyas was introduced). "Banks are obliged to ensure that ATMs are functioning and supplied with cash, and that cash is issued without problems on the payment cards for clients of other banks," the document says.

Yesterday the NBU again warned banks about the inadmissibility of introducing restrictions on their ATMs servicing the cards of other banks, including Prominvestbank, which has been under temporary administration since 7 October.

"These actions conflict both the rules of international payment systems and common sense, since they lead to a general destabilization of the market and give rise to panic among the clients of all banks," the temporary administrator of Prominvestbank, deputy NBU chairman Volodymyr Krotyuk, has said.

Market participants say that in this way banks are coping with the crisis. "This should be perceived as nothing special since it is necessary to bring the panic under control. The artificial demand for cash is growing and banks have no alternative - they can't fill their ATMs more frequently and are forced to set limits," the head of the Association of Ukrainian Banks, Oleksandr Suhonyako, says. "If someone cannot wait they can go and withdraw 1,000 hryvnyas a day."

[Passage omitted: more on this]
Even the NBU is unable to influence the actions of banks. "The rules of the system allow this, and we are unable to do anything about it, even in a crisis. I hope banks are not going to set limits of 50 hryvnyas - even 1,000 hryvnyas is tight," a source in the NBU told Kommersant.

However, some restrictions by banks are improper. "Banks even have the right to switch off ATMs. But it is absolutely illegal to set restrictions on withdrawals in bank branches," Maksym Lavrynovych, managing partner of the Lavrynovych and Partners law firm, says. "If it is necessary to withraw a large sum, then it is necessary to write a request a day in advance. If the bank refuses to give the money from the account, it is necessary to get a refusal in writing, take it to the NBU and a court and demand the return of the funds and compensation for losses."

[Passage omitted: more on this]
Source: Kommersant-Ukraina, Kiev, in Russian 15 Oct 08
BBC Mon KVU 151008 em

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