The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported in the first reading Bill No. 16013, which introduces criminal liability for transferring and selling one's own bank cards and accounts to third parties. The corresponding document was supported in the first reading by 299 people's deputies, as confirmed in parliament. The initiative is aimed at combating large-scale fraud schemes in which scammers and call centers use other people's payment details to withdraw and transfer funds stolen from citizens.

What Bill No. 16013 Proposes

The key provision of the document is the establishment of criminal punishment for the transfer and use of so-called "drop accounts." This term refers to bank cards and accounts that citizens deliberately place at the disposal of strangers in exchange for a "reward" for allowing money flows to pass through them. As intended by the authors, once the law is adopted, such actions will cease to be a "gray area" and will be classified as criminally punishable offenses, which should sharply narrow the channels for laundering and moving funds stolen through telephone and internet fraud.

Combating "Drop Accounts" and Fraudulent Call Centers

Practice shows that fraudulent call centers and organized groups of scammers make extensive use of "drops" as infrastructure for legitimizing stolen money: the victim transfers funds to someone else's card, which in turn splits and redirects them further down the chain. Bill No. 16013 is designed to break this chain at the level of the "drop" itself — the person who owns the account and voluntarily hands it over for others' use. Thus, liability will extend not only to the organizers of fraud schemes but also to the direct card owners, without whose participation the scheme is technically impossible.

Implementing European Standards

In addition to curbing specific criminal practices, the document is also aimed at the overall improvement of criminal-law mechanisms for countering financial fraud and at implementing in national legislation the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/713. This means that Ukraine will align its rules with the European standard in the area of combating fraud and other offenses against payment instruments, which is particularly relevant in the context of the country's integration processes.

Context: the President's Initiatives

The vote on Bill No. 16013 takes place against the backdrop of a broader wave of anti-fraud initiatives. Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a separate bill to the Rada providing for criminal liability for illegal operations involving payment instruments, individual account information, as well as for unauthorized access to bank and payment accounts. Earlier, the head of state publicly stated that Ukraine plans to strengthen liability for organizing fraudulent call centers, as well as for criminal schemes involving bank cards and so-called "drops." Thus, the document supported in the first reading becomes part of a systemic package of measures rather than an isolated decision.

What Comes Next

Support in the first reading means only the first stage of the parliamentary procedure. The bill will now be refined in the committees and at plenary sessions, after which a second-reading vote and a final vote will be required, followed by the president's signature and entry into force. Until that moment, the current legislation on "drops" and financial crimes remains unchanged; however, the very fact of the document's progress in the Rada signals that transferring bank cards and accounts to third parties may, in the future, carry not administrative but criminal consequences.