Ukraine Is Creating a Registry of Money Mules – Handing Over Bank Cards Will Become Dangerous

Kyiv, October 13, 2025 — The head of the Verkhovna Rada’s financial committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, announced plans to create a special registry of droppers — people who hand over their bank cards to third parties. Once added to this list, their financial transactions will be significantly restricted, and their ability to receive a pension or obtain loans may be blocked.

“If a person hands over their card, and this is documented… they are entered into the drops registry. Their financial transactions are significantly restricted — only basic ones remain,” Getmantsev explained. According to him, the bill will be submitted to parliament “literally in the coming days.”

What Are “Droppers” and How These Schemes Work

Droppers are participants in criminal schemes who provide fraudsters with their bank cards or access to them so those cards can be used for illegal operations: transferring money, laundering funds, and financing shadow schemes.

These offers often sound like this: “lend your card for a minute and you’ll get 1,000 UAH.” Hetmantsev directly called such offers suspicious:

“If someone approaches you and offers you a thousand hryvnias to hand over your card ‘for a minute,’ it’s not for ice cream”

According to estimates by financial media, since the beginning of 2025 alone, around 100 thousand compromised cards involved in dropper schemes have been identified. Depending on the region, up to 10–20% of new cards may be linked to fraud.

Typical dropper schemes:

• Card rental: handing over the card, PIN code, and access to online banking.
• Money mule: the drop withdraws money and passes it on to fraudsters.
• One-time drop: one transaction, after which the party exits the scheme.

Scammers often target vulnerable groups: students, pensioners, and people with low incomes.

What restrictions could follow from being added to the dropper registry

According to Hetmantsev and media reports, if the transfer of a bank card is documented:

• The user’s financial transactions will be limited to basic functions.
• Banks may refuse to issue loans.
• The receipt of pensions and social benefits may be blocked.
• Opening new accounts or cards — with certain restrictions or refusal.
• Even changing banks or opening a new account will not automatically remove the “penalty.”

Note: the bill on the registry of droppers must carefully take into account the protection of banking secrecy and citizens’ rights, in order to prevent abuse. Earlier, Hetmantsev promised that such legislative changes would not violate banking secrecy rules.

Why this matters and what to prepare for

1. Protection of citizens. The law is intended to be adopted as a tool to combat financial crimes: money laundering schemes, terrorist financing, and fraud.
2. Risks for ordinary people. Even lending your card to an acquaintance “for a while” may become grounds for being added to the register.
3. The need for legal protection. Fair appeal procedures and safeguards for citizens must be provided to prevent abuse by banks or authorities.
4. Technical and administrative issues. Who will maintain the register? How will the fact of transferring a card be recorded? How can errors and false positives be prevented?

Conclusion

The money mule registry initiative is a serious step in regulating financial relations aimed at curbing fraud.

But it carries significant risks for citizens — especially those who may end up on the list unfairly or due to oversight.