President Vladimir Turekhanov of the Kazakhstan Association of Automation and Robotics (KAAR) published a post in which he described a case of a bank card being blocked after a customer asked his wife to withdraw money from an ATM. The bank applied rules that only come into effect on 16 September.
In his Telegram channel, he noted that, according to recent changes, actions that were previously considered routine may now be treated as criminal offences.
"Since when is a lawful spouse a third party? Furthermore, in my opinion, this borders on insult and, I am not afraid to say it, undermines the institution of the family. Why is the bank card owner's explanation not enough to unblock the card, and why must we wait until Wednesday? When will they realise that the new rule is 'raw' and needs to be amended?" asks the head of the association.
According to the author, the bank's security officers classified handing over the card to his wife as "passing on details to a third party".
Turekhanov questioned the correctness of such an interpretation and pointed out contradictions: the laws clearly state that spouses have the right to manage joint property, and handing a card to a wife or husband is not a violation.
Moreover, the rules used to justify the actions of the bank employees only come into force on 16 September, yet some banks are already applying them in practice.
In Turekhanov's opinion, such cases undermine public trust in the banking system and create artificial risks for conscientious customers. He called on citizens to file complaints with the regulator in similar cases.