Taleh Kazimov: In Azerbaijan, the turnover on card-to-card transactions is very high

In Azerbaijan, the turnover of card-to-card transactions is very high.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to Report, this was stated at today's press conference by the Chairman of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Taleh Kazimov.

According to him, during the course of a day, transfers from different cards can be received into a single account — in amounts of 10, 50, 100, or 200 manats.

"Such activity may raise suspicions on the part of the bank. In such cases, information is legally forwarded to the Financial Monitoring Service. If they determine that there are signs of tax evasion, the data is sent to the State Tax Service," he noted.

Kazimov added that government agencies want to receive more information about individuals, but this could affect trust in the banking sector:

"As a regulator, I do not support this. But the question arises: why are debit cards being used for business? By law, banks are required to provide banking data of individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activity to the State Tax Service once a month. But if the card is not linked to a TIN, the mechanism is different. For example, if 50 card-to-card transfers are received into one person's account in a single day, that is already grounds for an inspection."

The CBA Chairman emphasized that personal data is protected by law, but suspicious transactions must be verified:

"This is not just about tax evasion. It could be fraud or money laundering. If funds of unknown origin are received into an account, such transactions are subject to analysis, which is carried out by the Financial Monitoring Service."