RUSSIA - Russian banks, one after the other are beginning to implement service charges and service fees for accounts held in foreign currencies due to what the Russian banks are calling the "unreliability of foreign currency partners" for Russia.
One such bank is named Tinkoff Bank has put out a warning to its clients that they will be introducing the measure starting June 23rd for accounts that hold the U.S. dollar, euro, pound, sterling, and Swiss franc.
The statement Tinkoff put out in Telegram said (translated from Russian): "Since June 23, we are introducing service charges for accounts in foreign currencies. Who it concerns: holders of card accounts in U.S. dollars, euros, pounds sterling, and Swiss francs.
What will change: The service fee for such accounts will be 1% per month if the balance is more than 1000 US dollars in the account currency. The fee will be deducted daily. What happened: this measure is due to the unreliability of foreign currency partners for Russia and is aimed at reducing the currency position of Tinkoff Bank.
What else you need to know: since June 23, you can open a savings account only in Russian rubles. Existing savings accounts in dollars and euros will be closed, funds stored on them - transferred to customer accounts in the same currencies".
Also, "from June 23, it will be possible to open a savings account only in Russian rubles. At the same time, existing savings accounts in dollars and euros will be closed, and the funds stored in them will be transferred to clients' accounts in the same currencies", according to the Ukrainian news site ubr.ua.
UBR also said that commission for SWIFT transfers have been canceled until June 30th for 'convenience' and quoted Russian media as saying that the practice will 'soon be extended to the currency stored in brokerage accounts' but will not be applied to securities.
One such bank is named Tinkoff Bank has put out a warning to its clients that they will be introducing the measure starting June 23rd for accounts that hold the U.S. dollar, euro, pound, sterling, and Swiss franc.
The statement Tinkoff put out in Telegram said (translated from Russian): "Since June 23, we are introducing service charges for accounts in foreign currencies. Who it concerns: holders of card accounts in U.S. dollars, euros, pounds sterling, and Swiss francs.
What will change: The service fee for such accounts will be 1% per month if the balance is more than 1000 US dollars in the account currency. The fee will be deducted daily. What happened: this measure is due to the unreliability of foreign currency partners for Russia and is aimed at reducing the currency position of Tinkoff Bank.
What else you need to know: since June 23, you can open a savings account only in Russian rubles. Existing savings accounts in dollars and euros will be closed, funds stored on them - transferred to customer accounts in the same currencies".
Also, "from June 23, it will be possible to open a savings account only in Russian rubles. At the same time, existing savings accounts in dollars and euros will be closed, and the funds stored in them will be transferred to clients' accounts in the same currencies", according to the Ukrainian news site ubr.ua.
UBR also said that commission for SWIFT transfers have been canceled until June 30th for 'convenience' and quoted Russian media as saying that the practice will 'soon be extended to the currency stored in brokerage accounts' but will not be applied to securities.