Why I Won't Keep My Money in Yandex Bank Accounts

I have to admit, I'd never even heard of Yandex Bank until I became a customer. But that's not surprising, given how seamlessly it integrates with the rest of the Yandex ecosystem. Essentially, Yandex Bank is like an online banking hub, accessible through the Yandex Pay service. With a huge customer base, competitive pricing, and plenty of convenient features, it's no wonder so many people have signed up. But what if I told you that, one day, you could wake up to find that all your money has vanished from your virtual bank accounts? It's like magic, but not the kind you'd want to see in a magic show! And to make matters worse, you'd be stuck dealing with customer support specialists who seem to be following a script and have no real expertise...

How it all started to unravel

The Yandex Bank phenomenon took off quickly, and it's easy to see why. With millions of people already using Yandex services, it was a no-brainer to add online banking to the mix. And to make it even more appealing, Yandex threw in all the usual perks: cashback categories, discounts with partner merchants, and more. The app itself is also top-notch, with a user-friendly design and plenty of features to keep you happy. You can even request physical debit cards, which arrive via courier or postal mail...

When people started switching to Yandex cards, the company began quietly siphoning money from their customers. They came up with these so-called 'savings' accounts. Essentially, they're just regular bank deposits, but with one key difference: the interest is calculated daily. So, the balance grows every day, and you can withdraw the interest at any time without losing a single kopek or facing any hidden conditions. That's a pretty sweet deal! But people started transferring their money to virtual accounts, investing it in these 'savings' without giving it a second thought. They should have.

The first red flags

I've always been uneasy about the fact that Yandex Bank isn't a full-fledged bank in the classical sense. You can't just call an operator if your card gets stolen (you're stuck chatting with a nameless employee who takes their time responding). You can't visit a branch to get some documentation or resolve an issue (there aren't any branches to speak of). Out of caution, I never kept more than 50,000 rubles on my accounts. It turned out that was a big risk.

The first red flags started popping up when Yandex Pay suddenly started glitching. I had an instance where my accounts just vanished – my app showed zero balance on both my card and savings account. Luckily, customer support responded quickly, apologized for the system glitch, and had everything sorted out within minutes.

The second major glitch happened some time later, when the system suddenly told me that all my accounts were locked and I couldn't use my money because I hadn't confirmed my identity. To unlock them, I had to contact customer support and send over a scan of my passport. I had to go back and forth in an email thread, explaining that all this info had already been sent over when I opened the account – and that was a while back. After a few hours of back-and-forth, customer support finally acknowledged that they had the info, that the lock was a glitch, and everything was good to go again (no need to re-send any docs).

After reading through some online reviews, I realized that this kind of glitch happens regularly to all users, so I made the decision to stop storing large sums of money in the Yandex Bank – just keeping small amounts for everyday expenses. But it turned out they were after those too.

Was there any outstanding debt?

This all happened in mid-April 2025. When I tried to pay for a taxi ride, I hit a snag – the payment didn't go through because, supposedly, there was no money on the card linked to Yandex Pay (when in fact, there was).

I checked the app and saw that all my accounts were zeroed out – instead of a couple thousand on my main account, which all my cards are linked to, and a few thousand in savings, I was looking at zeros.

And right below my card info, I got a message with an exclamation mark: 'Account seized – what does that mean and where can I find out?'

Out of the blue, my cards got blocked, and in the app, I got a message saying my account was frozenWhen I clicked on the red link, I got a clarification: 'Your money's been blocked due to a court debt. Find out more on Gosuslugi or the FSSP website, or get in touch with us.'

Now things get really interesting. The thing is, I've never been to court, I don't owe anyone any money, and I'm not in debt to anyone.

To make sure that, you know, 'something didn't pop up out of nowhere' (after all, as they say, in our country, you can't swear off debt or prison), I checked Gosuslugi. All my debts, just like all my payments to the budget, are listed in a special section. It's as clear as day: I owe nothing.

Gosuslugi confirmed: I owe nothingI used the Gosuslugi function to send a request to the FSSP and find out about any debts I might have had in the past, along with any payments I've made. And, I mean, it's all in one place – all debts and payments across all Russian government agencies. I filled out the form, sent the request, and soon got an official response (complete with a reference number, registered with the FSSP): I owe nothing, and there are no cases against me with the FSSP.

Official response from the Federal State Statistics Service on Gosuslugi, confirming there's no debtI decided to take a different approach. On the Federal State Statistics Service website, you can search for debts by surname, passport details, or any other identifying information. I made requests as soon as possible: by name, passport, tax ID, and even by SNILS, just in case. I tried searching all regions of Russia. For all my requests (over 30 in total), the response was always the same: 'No debts found,' or 'Nothing found for your query.'

I'm starting to wonder if I'm doing something wrong. I called the Federal State Statistics Service's customer support. They listened to me, promised to check everything, and then told me I owe them nothing. There were no court cases against me, and no orders to freeze my accounts. The customer support rep even said something that made sense: 'If you had a freeze on your accounts, your central bank accounts – like Sberbank, Tinkoff, or even Yandex in extreme cases – would be blocked first.'

Communication with Yandex support

After being convinced it was just another glitch in Yandex, I wrote to their support team. Through the chat. Because I had to wait several hours for a response (the app sometimes closes – you can't just sit there with your phone in your hand, waiting for a response), some of my messages would disappear. I'd write a message, wait 10-15 minutes, then put my phone down. An hour later, I'd check and there'd be no response. Two hours later, I'd check again, and my message would be gone, like it never existed.

I have to say, I was a bit frustrated with the second attempt to resolve my issue. It took me about half a day to get a response, and when I finally did, it felt like we were speaking different languages. The operator started responding with a generic script, but since my situation was a bit unusual, the script fell apart, and we ended up going around in circles. It went something like this (I'm exaggerating a bit, leaving out personal details and unnecessary info):

I: My accounts have been frozen due to a court debt, but I've checked with the government services and the court, and I don't have any outstanding debts.

Operator: It's likely that you do have a court debt. You should contact the court.

I: I've already tried that. There's no debt.

Operator: Try checking your debt status through the government services.

I: I've already done that. There's no debt.

Operator: Can you send me a scan of the page from the government services that shows you don't have any debt?

I: I made a scan and sent it.

Operator: It's probably just that the government services haven't updated their info. You should check the court's website for your debt status.

I: I've already checked the court's website. There's no debt, and to make sure, I even called the court and they confirmed it over the phone.

Operator: I'm not going to take your word for it. Can you send me a scan of the court's response or a written confirmation?

I: I went back to the court's website, made a scan of the page confirming I don't have any debt, and sent it.

Operator: Unfortunately, I'm not able to help you any further...

And then the operator hung up.

Attempt #2

I was prepared for some glitches with "Yandex", but I decided to wait a bit and see how things go. After all, if there's an error, they usually fix it within a day or two. However, after three days, the situation hadn't changed. My cards and accounts were still blocked, and the message about the debt was still there, but, of course, there was no debt in the FSSP database.

My second conversation with "Yandex" support was almost identical to the first one. They asked me to send the scan again and told me they couldn't help me.

I decided to contact the bailiffs again. I called the FSSP and explained the situation in detail. They checked me against the database using my passport details, SNILS, and INN, and confirmed that there was no debt. Then they told me (verbatim): "This is something "Yandex" is messing with you. Ask them for the court summons number. With that, we might be able to look into it further."

Excerpt from the FSSP's database of enforcement proceedingsI called "Yandex" again and asked them to give me the court summons number and the bailiff's details. But... They put me through the same loop again: they asked me the same questions. And only after that did they tell me they couldn't give me that information because it's protected by personal data.

I'm still trying to figure out what data you're asking for. I've already shared my personal details and documents in the chat. I'm just asking for the court order number that led to the freeze. That's not confidential information. The operator's response is just ridiculous: 'What if you're not who you claim to be? What if you've taken over someone else's account? We can't identify you remotely, so we can't share that information.'

I'm saying, I'll come to any office to verify my identity, I just need the court order number, which isn't a secret and should be sent to all banks where I have accounts.

The operator just says 'Sorry, can't help you' and hangs up.

A month later

It's been a month, and the issue still hasn't been resolved. As of the end of May, nothing's changed. None of the banks where I have accounts (I have a Sberbank salary card and a VTB account, and everything's working fine) have blocked my accounts. The debt information still hasn't appeared in the government services or on the bailiff's website (because, again, I don't have any debts). Meanwhile, the Yandex Pay app still won't work when I open it, showing a message that my accounts are frozen. And, of course, no one's returned my money...

Friends are advising me to sue Yandex Bank, but the problem is that I'd have to pay a fee and hire a lawyer, which would end up costing more than the money Yandex has stolen from me...

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's had this happen. Just imagine how many people could be in the same boat, with money taken from their virtual accounts, and not taking it to court because it's just not worth it? It looks like 'Yandex' has found a perfectly legitimate way to scam people! Genius, right? All they have to do is block customers' accounts, citing a court order that doesn't even need to be produced or mentioned! And they don't have to prove that the order actually exists... What a weird case...

Still storing money in 'Yandex Bank'? Don't say I didn't warn you...