The economist appreciated the idea of giving bank employees the right to block cash withdrawals.

The initiative to give bank employees the right to temporarily block the issuance of cash has become a logical continuation of measures to combat financial fraud. By the end of the third quarter of 2025, attackers stole 8.2 billion rubles from Russians, despite the fact that banking systems repelled millions of attacks. This was stated on March 3 to Izvestia by Ahmed Yusupov, an economist and partner at the Goldman Agency communications agency.

According to him, this is not about total control over customers, but about the mechanism of a "cooling-off period" that can give a person time to realize that he has become a victim of social engineering. Since January 1, 2026, the Bank of Russia has expanded the list of signs of fraudulent transactions to 12. Now not only transfers from the fraud database are taken into account, but also behavioral anomalies, as well as a change in phone number on the eve of the operation.

"The initiative with the right to block is a tactical tool. But without clear criteria and legislative regulation, there is a risk of a formal approach and human error. We must not allow a situation where a person urgently needs money for treatment, and the operation is blocked as atypical," Yusupov said.

The economist stressed that the technological approach looks more promising. In February, the exchange of risk indicators was launched, which allows banks to transmit information about suspicious transactions in real time. In addition, the "second hand" service is actively used, when a loved one can confirm or reject an operation.

Step and abyss: regulatory restrictions on credit cards reduce their share and increase the gray area in the economy

Experts attribute the decline in the issuance of such cards to tight control over the industry.

According to Yusupov, strategic customer protection should be based on a combination of automated systems and personal responsibility. Artificial intelligence and the regulator's shared database are able to analyze questionable transactions in real time, and bank employees should only be involved in difficult cases.

The expert believes that the fight against fraud is possible only with the combined efforts of banks, the regulator and the payment infrastructure. The creation of a unified and transparent data exchange system will reduce the number of erroneous blockages and at the same time increase the level of protection of citizens.

On the same day, Izvestia found out that banks had offered to give their office staff the authority to stop customer cash withdrawals at branches and cash desks. Such a cooling-off period should help protect customers who have been exposed to fraud by preventing people from immediately withdrawing funds from their accounts directly at bank branches.

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