If money is stolen from a card — the bank will be obliged to return it: Ukrainians want to be protected from fraud

In Ukraine, the protection of bank clients who have fallen victim to fraudulent withdrawals from cards and accounts may be strengthened. A bill has been registered in parliament that proposes to directly oblige banks to immediately return money in cases of unauthorized transactions if the client promptly reports the fraud.

The document also provides that it is the bank that must prove the client's guilt in the leakage of payment data, not the other way around. The bill's initiators explain that due to the spread of banking fraud and online theft of funds, it is necessary to clearly enshrine the rights of financial service consumers at the legislative level.

The project is titled "On Amendments to Article 55 of the Law of Ukraine 'On Banks and Banking Activities' Regarding Guaranteeing the Rights of Bank Clients Related to Banking Fraud."

Banks may be required to immediately return funds after fraudulent transactions

The bill proposes to supplement Article 55 of the Law of Ukraine "On Banks and Banking Activities" with new provisions that impose an obligation on the bank to immediately reimburse the client in case of unauthorized or incorrectly executed payment transactions if the client promptly reported the transaction that he did not perform or that was conducted incorrectly.

It is also proposed to establish that the bank must, if necessary, restore the account balance to the state it was in before such a transaction.

When a bank client will not be held responsible for fund withdrawals

The bill separately states that the client will not be held responsible for payment transactions if the payment instrument was used without the physical presentation of the card by the user or without electronic identification of the payment instrument and its holder.

At the same time, the client's responsibility may arise if it is proven that he contributed by his actions or inaction to the loss or illegal use of the PIN code or other information that allows initiating payment transactions.

Parliament refers to judicial practice

In the explanatory note, the authors of the bill note that banking fraud is currently a widespread phenomenon, but the rights of clients in relations with banks in cases of criminal withdrawal of funds remain insufficiently regulated at the legislative level.

At the same time, the authors refer to the practice of the Supreme Court. In particular, in the ruling dated August 16, 2023, in case No. 176/1445/22, the Supreme Court stated that it is the bank that must prove that the client by his actions or inaction contributed to the illegal use of payment information. The court also indicated that the mere fact of correctly entering data to conduct a transaction is not automatic proof of the client's guilt.

The bill also cites the position of the Supreme Court set out in the ruling dated July 2, 2025, in case No. 490/7829/23. The court concluded that a bank client is not responsible for unauthorized payment card transactions if he promptly notified the bank about such transactions and the financial institution did not prove the client's involvement in the loss or illegal use of payment information.

The bill mentions the ECHR decision in the case "Tymoshenko v. Ukraine"

Additionally, the explanatory note mentions the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case "Tymoshenko v. Ukraine" dated April 30, 2013, regarding the principle of legal certainty. The bill's authors point out that legislation must be sufficiently clear and predictable for citizens.

When the law on protecting bank clients from fraud may come into force

The purpose of the bill is to ensure the protection of bank clients' rights from banking fraud and to regulate issues of liability in cases of unauthorized payment card transactions at the legislative level.

Implementation of the bill, as stated in the explanatory note, will not require additional expenditures from the State Budget of Ukraine.

If adopted, the law will come into force the day after its publication.

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