Reuters reports EU banks refusing accounts to Russian residents not under sanctions

On 14 February 2025 Reuters published a report by correspondents Francesco Canepa and Anton Zverev on Russians living in the European Union who could not open a bank account, or whose account was closed, after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The people described were not themselves subject to sanctions. The wire service said it had spoken to around two dozen Russian expatriates or their lawyers, in countries from Portugal to Finland.

Svetlana Sarantseva, a Russian national, had left Russia 30 years earlier and moved to Portugal in 2021. From April 2022 she approached six banks. The digital bank Moey! said it worked only with Portuguese nationals. N26 refused a joint account with her German husband, citing her nationality. Bankinter cited a lack of commercial interest.

Her husband, Stefan Zwanzger, complained to regulators and politicians in Portugal and Germany, and eventually opened a Portuguese account for her after contacting banking executives on social media.

Yuri Vasiliev, a Russian opposition activist in Poland on a humanitarian visa, was turned down by PKO Bank Polski, mBank and the local units of Santander, Credit Agricole and Citibank.

The banks gave differing accounts to Reuters. N26 said it must adhere to strict industry standards and guidelines which vary depending on nationality. Moey! confirmed that it works only with Portuguese nationals, but said its brick-and-mortar parent Credito Agricola (Portugal) serves a wider range of residents; both banks declined to comment on individual customers. Bankinter, a Spanish bank operating in Portugal, did not respond to a request for comment. Credit Agricole Bank Poland, a separate institution from Portugal's Credito Agricola, said there was no rule barring Russian citizens but that it may refuse to open an account under laws against money laundering and terrorism financing. The other four banks in the Polish market did not respond.

Germany's financial regulator told Reuters it receives hundreds of complaints every year from people turned down by banks and thousands about accounts being closed, but does not keep a record of complainants' nationality. Banco de Portugal said there was no blanket ban on Russian customers who are not under sanctions, without prejudice to banks' internal risk management policies. The European Commission said it had not received many such complaints from Russian citizens, but followed up those it received with national authorities.

Gera Ugryumova, head of the Italian rights group Iskra, said her organization had helped reverse about 5,000 bank decisions against Russians and had prepared court cases against 42 lenders since the invasion.

Reuters noted that EU rules entitle consumers legally resident in the Union to a payment account with basic features, and that the European Commission's guidance on that right covers Russians. It also noted that Russians and Belarusians without a residence permit face a 100,000 euro deposit cap under sanctions, and that citizens of countries such as Iran and Syria, also targeted by sanctions, have long faced similar difficulties.