Hey folks.

Spring hit me with a family mess—tensions flared and everything got rough.

I had to jump in fast to help a relative whose finances collapsed—accounts frozen, cards dead...

I lent him my card, and he promptly lost it. So we decided to get me a fresh, free one.

(Before that I was using a Yoomoney card that cost 300 rubles to issue and took two weeks to arrive...)

That was too slow and pricey when I needed cash right away.

We landed on an Alfa‑Card because it promised no fees, my relative already had one, and a lot of other banks do too. Issuance and delivery were free, and they could drop it off the same day.

Another hook was the referral program—invite a friend, both of you snag a bonus.

We went for it.

ALFA‑CARD APPLICATION

We opened his account in the bank’s app and hit the invitation link.

The banners look like this:

Basically, you just click, copy the link and send it to a friend. We shot it over on WhatsApp.I opened it right away, and the link took me straight to the Alfa‑Bank registration page.

All they asked was my name, phone number, and a preferred delivery window so the courier could drop the card off somewhere in the city that worked for me.

I chose the same‑day slot because the May holidays were coming up and I didn’t want to wait.

I installed the Alfa app, and a virtual card showed up under my name, but I couldn’t do much with it—everything stayed locked until I verified my identity, i.e., until I got the physical card.

Oh well, moving on.

That was it for the night, and I went to bed.

GETTING THE CARD FROM ALFA‑BANK:

In the morning the courier called to confirm a delivery time. I’d set 1‑3 pm on the site, so I told him that, gave my building number, and he hung up.

I waited from 1 pm, but nothing. By the time I was getting frustrated, dressed to walk the dog, and it was almost 3 pm, his phone rang right at my door. “I’m here, come out,” he said. I had to leave the dog at the doorstep and sprint to meet him.

He pulled up in a flashy Audi—neighbors probably started gossiping again—invited me into the car, and we started the card paperwork.

First, he needed my passport. He snapped photos, recorded the details, got my signature, handed over the card, and even took a selfie with me holding it.

We ended up sitting there for about an hour while he fiddled with my phone and his, with some background music playing.

Honestly, I felt pretty uncomfortable the whole time.

He was installing something and downloading files.

When I asked what he was doing, he said he was installing an app for me, even though I’d already installed the main one the night before.

He told me that, as a new client, I’m supposed to get 5,000 RUB, but now I have to transfer 1,200 RUB to a new card… Hmm. I had some money on another account, so I moved it over, and the app said I can’t spend it for a month; only after that will the 5,000 RUB be credited. It also set me up with Alfa‑Invest.

It smelled like a scam, but I decided to follow his instructions and see if it was legit. Okay.

I asked about the virtual card that pops up automatically when you install the app, wondering if any limits would apply. He said they’d just disable it entirely, and it would disappear.

Only the main physical card and its account would remain.

So why create a virtual card at all, mislead you into thinking you can use it, then pull the rug out?

Ha‑ha, first shady move.

Okay, we said our goodbyes.

After he left, I noticed a text from the government services app with a code, timed exactly when he was fiddling with my phone. What was he doing?

I checked – nothing suspicious showed up.

Don’t trust your phone to even a bank rep, even if they claim they need to enter something “for confirmation.” Yeah, right.

Bottom line: I was a naive fool, didn’t expect that level of pressure…

What can you do…

REWARD FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE “INVITE A FRIEND – MONEY FOR YOU AND FRIENDS” PROGRAM AT ALFA‑BANK:

The condition to earn the reward for a friend’s invitation was simple: make any offline purchase with the plastic card.

I headed straight to a store to test the card, which meant I had to load some funds onto it first.

I bought dog food. The amount didn’t matter; the purchase itself did.

Back home – requirement met.

The 500 RUB bonus from the promo arrived on time, just as promised.

Did the friend actually get his money? I have no idea – he had debts, and the inviter also had to spend 3,000 RUB that month, either in one purchase or across five, something like that.

ALFA‑SMART CASHBACK, WHEEL OF FORTUNE, PAID SERVICES:

I wanted a card with free maintenance and had no clue that paid services were already switched on.

They asked me to pick cashback categories for the current and next month.

The options were pretty standard – pharmacies, taxis, bars, regular shops.

The max cashback you can earn in a month is about 5,000 RUB, which isn’t huge.

There’s also a “wheel of fortune” you spin to unlock an extra cashback category; I got transport, which was nice. Sounds good, right? Where’s the catch?

By default (or on purpose) I was enrolled in Alfa‑Smart, which gave me those extra categories and the ability to shop in the marketplace with boosted bonuses (something I don’t need). Next month they would have charged me 399 RUB for the subscription, so I turned it off.

All legit, no hidden tricks…

There can also be fees for SMS, push notifications, the “free transfers” service to bank cards, and so on.

Just to be safe, I turned off what I thought were the paid notifications, so now I don’t even get push alerts about charges or purchases at a store…

Who knows if that’s right or not, but it’s annoying..

INVEST SAVINGS JAR:

The bank also tried to lure me with an “Invest Savings Jar” offer: deposit as little as 100 ruble (actually 150), enter a contest where 10 people can win 5,000 ruble, and earn a small percentage on the deposited amount. The percentage is tiny, and you’ll have to pay tax on any profit. According to other users who put larger sums, the jar can even go into the red by a few thousand.

Did I need that? I tried it once and that was enough. I didn’t win anything and pulled the money back. By the way, withdrawals only happen on business days during exchange hours, roughly 10 am to 6 pm. The app was lagging, maybe the system was, so I noticed data updates were slow and my withdrawal request didn’t go through immediately—it took a few tries!

Alright, now we get to the juicy part.

ALFA‑INVESTMENTS:

I hesitated to pull the money out of the investments and just waited. They said there would be only small fluctuations, plus or minus 50 ruble.

I wasn’t really into the details of these investments to begin with. Fine.

Then I realized only about 60 ruble was sitting in my cash balance; the rest was automatically invested in their own stocks.

Turns out they’d set up those investments without my consent, using my money to buy shares.

What’s the point for them?

They signed me up through their referral link, which promises:

Since I hadn’t withdrawn for a month, they snagged their bonus.

I messaged support; they told me the bonus would definitely arrive, just wait!

But it’s already the 15th of the following month—the date they asked me to wait for—and I’m back asking why…

WHY HAVEN’T I RECEIVED ANYTHING?

Turns out, even though I met the conditions—selling the virtual portfolio, buying and selling real‑money stocks worth at least 1,000 ruble in a month—my shares actually lost about 100 ruble. So I ended up slightly in the red, and the reward doesn’t apply.

Official response from Alfa Bank:

Hello.

Thank you for your patience.

You previously contacted us about the “+100,000 ruble start bonus” promotion.

After a detailed review, we found that the profit on your virtual portfolio is 0 ruble.

If the selected stock portfolio decreased in value or stayed flat, you don’t lose anything, but you also don’t receive a payout under the promotion.

No 5,000 ruble prize!

What a scam, seriously! The promotion is just a bait for new customers, or just a banner..

Turns out I spent a month and a half just to line his (the bank rep’s) pockets so he could keep cruising in his fancy car, and I ended up losing a hundred bucks 🤣

What a mess, everything feels like a lie.

I should've just said I had no money.

To pull money out, you first have to sell the shares – create a request, wait for the market to open, wait for the shares to clear.

Then, about a day later, you can try to transfer them to your card account.

Got the cash out, and spent it.

So here's what happened with that cash: I ordered clothes on Wildberries with “pay after try‑on,” set the payment to my Alfa Bank card via the fast‑payment system, linked it ahead of time – no need to type the card details.

And guess what? The payment kept failing at the “processing” stage… The checkout clerk got nervous, tried to charge it, but the system kept redirecting the charge to my old virtual card that was already linked to Wildberries. Then Alfa‑Bank finally cut ties with Wildberries through the fast‑payment system.

I was fed up, the items were a must‑have, so I moved the money to that old card and paid from there.

The money hit instantly! The order was confirmed… The point‑of‑sale operator stared at me like I’d never seen a payment fail before.

The next day, after draining every last ruble from the investment account, I closed it – which I did.

What else? Transaction limits, transfers and the like are way lower here than on my fully verified YooMoney.

Cash withdrawals are easier.

There are a ton of offers in the app for a savings account, credit card, mortgage…

I have no idea what surprises Alfa‑Bank will throw at me next, but I’m already uneasy.