PrivatBank may charge a fee for certain service packages, even if the conditions for free usage have been met.
This was reported by the portal "Minfin", where users can submit inquiries to banks. Specifically, in the case of the Premium PLUS package, the bank sometimes classifies certain transactions as "exceptions" that require payment.
One customer of "PrivatBank" shared that he used the Premium PLUS package, under the terms of which the bank should not charge a fee for usage. However, he was still billed.
"I encountered a minor manipulation by PrivatBank regarding the Premium PLUS package. The bank charged a fee for using the package, despite the conditions for free usage being met," he reported.
He found out that the fee was deducted because the bank decided to classify transactions made through GPay with MCC code 9311/Tax Payments as one of the exceptions, similar to utility payments or payments with IBAN account details.
Interestingly, neither the MCC code 9311 nor "tax payment" is part of the exceptions, yet the bank has the right to categorize them in this way and thus exclude them from free transactions that guarantee free service for the package.
The "PrivatBank" customer filed a complaint with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as with this approach, the financial institution could consider any transaction as exceptional.
In response, a representative of "PrivatBank" did not clearly explain why funds were deducted for free services but promised to resolve the situation personally.
According to information on the "PrivatBank" website, free service for the Premium PLUS package is guaranteed with expenditures of at least 30,000 hryvnias per month when making card payments at retail outlets and online.