In everyday life, all people are accustomed to the fact that on any plastic card from the bank there are certain personal data, but in modern times there is a perfect analogue. Anonymous bank cards are a copy of ordinary debit and credit cards that turn out to be unembossed - they do not have the name and surname of the holder, and only the issuing bank and the card issuer have information about them (MasterCard, Visa , etc.). Since personal data are not available on the card, it is necessary to present a passport or any other identification document to identify the client in the trade and service network. But are there really anonymous cards?
What do anonymous bank cards mean for the economy?
According to the Russian government, anonymous electronic wallets and anonymous cards are used by people who are engaged in "cashing". That is, there is a cashing out of money in the accounts of citizens and which was obtained illegally - after money laundering, transfer of bribes, sale of prohibited funds. In other words, all that which is almost impossible to trace. According to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the use, as well as the transfer of money through similar anonymous wallets and bank cards, is an “uncivilized approach where the movement must be absolutely transparent,” and therefore this practice must be stopped.
Ban anonymous bank cards
In October 2017, news appeared in the news feed that anonymous bank cards in Russia would be banned. However, in reality, the actions that have been taken with regard to anonymous bank cards are a bill that would amend the Federal Law “On the National Payment System”, which would prohibit holders of anonymous cards and wallets from completely withdrawing cash from any ATMs of any bank.
Nevertheless, such payment systems as Yandex.Money, as well as Visa Qiwi Wallet offer anonymous wallets (cards), which also make it possible to use anonymous banking services, but with one categorical feature - cash withdrawals are limited to about 5000 rubles, with a certain amount of money that can be stored on your wallet, as well as a limit on purchasing power - you cannot make purchases on the Internet or in stores around the world, it is forbidden to transfer money to another wallet, to a bank card one or another account, receive transfers from wallet to wallet. All other functions will be opened by the issuer only after passing the identification in the office, either by providing a copy of the passport, or by indicating other citizen documents to choose from. Yandex.Money and Visa Qiwi Wallet do not set themselves the goal of obtaining confidential data for further commercial use, they need to make sure that the user is a real person with really existing documents.
Anonymous Visa Bank Card
In 2016, Visa and Ukrainian bank Fidobank announced the launch of a joint project to create a contactless electronic payment service called The Pay, which provides the opportunity to issue a Visa electronic card that turns any Android smartphone and with NFC function into a contactless bank card without any or the need to go to the bank, unlike many other competitors. In addition, we are talking about the anonymity of payments.
Bank Card Anonymity Interference
However, this know-how in the field of anonymous bank cards was not successful, since Fidobank is under the jurisdiction of Ukrainian law, which does not mean anonymous banking service under the concept of “electronic payment tool” - the service provided by the bank is only a tool for managing money customer’s resources, that is, the data has already been provided to the bank to use its services. This application can only simplify the process of issuing an anonymous payment card, however, it does not anonymous as a banking service, since it requires the necessary identification procedure to service and issue electronic funds. The absence of the latter leads to a violation of the law for banking organizations, since it is forbidden to open and maintain anonymous settlement accounts in accordance with the current legislation of the countries.
The benefits of anonymizing accounts
Nevertheless, the Fidobank service is a successful breakthrough in the field of anonymization of the banking services sector, but is far from complete in terms of absolute departure from providing data. This is confirmed directly by the system itself, which is used for The Pay (Visa), MoneXy, which needs a mobile number as a formal user identification. However, this is also a step towards anonymity, since the industry of anonymous numbers is gaining momentum, and therefore formally the user replenishing his anonymous card is hidden and will not be identified until he comes to the bank.
The advantage of this method of identification is the absence of the slightest attachment of the client to the annoying shares of the bank, which, in turn, could send them through various communication channels with the client. However, even the banal availability of a mobile phone in its database will allow you to invite a client to your home to provide special special offers.
International market for anonymous bank cards
In the international banking market, there are some companies that offer offshore bank cards. They were released in Guatemala, Cyprus, as well as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Companies offer to purchase a “prepaid card”, on which it is possible to store money, have access to it, using the “plastic” directly worldwide, withdraw funds from various ATMs, and also pay in stores.
The card will also not have a name and surname, but can it be called completely anonymous? Of course no. According to companies, neither the magnetic strip, nor the chip itself, nor the transaction will have a name or a surname of a client. However, when issuing this card, it is necessary to register a real person according to all the rules that exist for issuing banks. This means that as such a card holder will exist in the bank database. According to the assurances of companies involved in the issuance of such cards, this is also necessary for the security of the client’s account so that fraudsters who are looking for any loopholes to gain access to the funds do not have access to it.
The only way such “sovereign” companies offer to anonymize a bank card is by creating additional cards for the owners of the main account. In this case, any funds placed on the account will not be under the control of the main card holder, but under the control of a person who will also have access to them.
It is obvious that issuing cards outside the country of residence and transferring access to the account to third parties is a risky proposition, since all funds are controlled by the other party, and litigation in case of unforeseen situations with a legal entity located in another country will be cost-intensive and laborious.
Features of the Russian market of anonymity
As mentioned earlier, according to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the complete impossibility of identifying a user is unacceptable, since this contradicts the rules for banks.
Nevertheless, considering the Russian banking services market, one can come across banks' proposals for issuing non-embossed cards, which, in fact, do not have the name and surname of the card holder on their front side, however, for issuing a passport must be submitted to the bank branch. You can already see the anonymous bank cards of Sberbank, Alfa Bank, Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Moscow Industrial Bank, Russian Agricultural Bank and other credit organizations.
Sberbank vs competitors
The most popular product is the Momentum card, which is issued by Sberbank, is completely free, allows you to access non-cash payments, transfers, remote services of the bank.
However, there are also disadvantages in this card - it is not completely anonymous, has restrictions on withdrawing funds, it cannot be used as part of a salary project, there may be difficulties with registration, difficulties with re-issuance in case of theft or loss.
All these disadvantages overlap with one main advantage - you can get a relatively anonymous card in just 10 minutes by contacting any bank branch.
Yandex.Money one step ahead
This credit organization also allows its customers to manage funds using an unnamed, but at the same time virtual card tied to a wallet. Even if you have the status of “anonymous”, that is, without absolutely any data, according to some restrictions on operations, but at the same time you can issue a virtual anonymous bank card, which you can pay contactlessly if your phone has an NFC chip and the corresponding Yandex.Money application. It turns out that to issue such a card you only need mail and a mobile phone.
Conclusion
Returning to the question of the existence of completely anonymous cards, it is worthwhile to understand that the presence of such cards will jeopardize the global economy in connection with many possible potentially dangerous payments, as well as transfers. These include corruption, as well as sponsorship of terrorism. Thus, the identification by the issuing bank and the payment system of its users creates an areola of security not only in the economic sphere of society, but also in the political as well as social.