To all, I want to share a recent experience with Tinkoff Bank.

I've been using Tinkoff Bank for a couple of years, mostly making small purchases with my debit card. The only plus I see is the cashback system, which offers 1-5% depending on the store. I set up the categories in the app, but I forgot to do it a couple of times, and I didn't receive any cashback for two months.

Then I saw an offer to invite a friend and get 3000 rubles, and my friend would get 500 rubles. The only condition was that my friend had to spend 500 rubles within a month of opening the card. Then I would receive a cashback.

We decided to try this offer and signed up through my link. My mom received a notification that her debit card would be delivered within two days. We downloaded the app, and her electronic card and account were already available. We entered her passport details, and the bank requested them in the app. We checked the transfer from another bank and back, and everything worked.

I taught my mom how to use the app a bit. Just before the courier arrived, the bank sent a notification in the app:

A courier will bring two cards: a debit card and a Platinum credit card. We were shocked, as we didn't order a credit card and didn't want anything to do with credit.

I was not at my mom's place at the time, and she's not very familiar with the app, so she couldn't communicate with the operator.

I decided to write to the bank myself: why did you issue a credit card without our request? The bank's employees replied that they were acting within the law and that there was a request for a debit card. I asked them five times why they issued a credit card, and they said it was possible that we had ordered it later. But I know for sure that we didn't order anything except the debit card!

T-bank review Tinkoff Bank review

My mom managed to write to Tinkoff's chat from her phone to delete the credit card application, as she didn't make it. I consider this a violation of the law on consumer protection, as the credit card was issued without our request. Okay, we finally decided that the courier would bring only the debit card, and they canceled the credit card.

We're waiting for the courier. He arrived on time, brought the debit card, asked for my mom's passport, took a photo of it with her and the card. He also entered her passport details into his phone.

I'm not sure if this is legal and safe. A third party comes to your home, takes a photo of your passport, and sends it somewhere. It's a dangerous time for scammers, credit cards, and microfinance institutions, and this information can fall into the wrong hands!

My mom activated the debit card, signed the electronic agreement in the app, and that was it. We were finally happy to put money on the card and use it.

But that wasn't the end of the story.

My mom tried to make a transfer from another bank to the card, just like we did before, and she got an error message: it's impossible to make a transfer to this card. After the courier left, the card disappeared from the bank's app altogether. Her account was gone too.

We started writing to the chat, and I and my mom found out that the bank had deleted her account: your account has been deleted; we recommend opening a new card. We're shocked! We did all this for nothing! And they canceled the credit card because we didn't want it!

Tinkoff Bank wrote a response, but it was vague and unhelpful. We found out that they deleted her account because we didn't want the credit card. I'm only sorry that I even got involved with Tinkoff Bank. My mom is upset and scared that she shared her passport details with someone unknown.

I wouldn't recommend Tinkoff Bank to anyone.

Rating: 1 star.

Thanks for reading this long review. Maybe someone will find it helpful.