Western banks block currency transfers from Crimeans based on registration
Western banks do not process dollar payments to Crimeans: Crimean registration does not allow currency payments through the SWIFT system.
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Western banks are refusing to process foreign currency payments to citizens registered in Crimea, a representative of one payment system told Vedomosti . If the bank sees in the SWIFT system that the person sending the payment is registered in Crimea, it won't process it, he complained.
This is confirmed by an employee of another Russian payment system: “If Crimea is indicated in the passport, foreign banks will not allow foreign currency payments.” The same, according to him, applies to payments from companies registered in Crimea, he adds.
This also happens in cases where the money goes not through Crimean, but through Moscow banks. This is confirmed by the publication’s source in the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Another knowledgeable source of the publication says that it is possible to send currency from other regions of Russia to Crimea, but not from Crimea. “They explain that according to the bank’s rules, it is necessary to indicate the sending region, but the recipient’s region is not necessary.”
Deutsche Bank confirmed to the publication that there is an internal instruction according to which the bank should not process payments if the recipient or sender is associated with Crimea.
To avoid refusal, banks and payment systems resort to tricks. When transferring from one current account to another, banks do not indicate that the payment is intended for a resident of Crimea. Then the transaction can go through. If Crimea is indicated in the comments to the message, the payment will definitely be blocked.