Ukrainian banks are preparing to launch a service to exchange information about payment cards, accounts and merchants linked to the illegal gambling business, according to Member of Parliament Olga Vasylevska-Smaglyuk.
System name, developer and discussion schedule
The system is called Illegal Gambling & Miscoding Risk Notificator and is intended to help financial institutions detect payment schemes used by shadow casinos that operate through accounts in different banks. The developer is listed as the Ukrainian Interbank Association of Payment System Members (EMA); the service will become part of the AntiFraud HUB platform.
A working meeting of the EMA is scheduled for 30 October to discuss the service launch. Participants are to agree the system’s capabilities, the procedure for data exchange, testing and pilot use.
How the system will detect miscoding and drops
Interbank data exchange will make it possible to find links between operations that, taken individually in separate banks, may not look suspicious. The aim is to alert other participants about cards, accounts or merchants that may be involved in illegal gambling.
The service will cover two main areas:
- Miscoding — merchants accept payments for illegal gambling but label them as payments for other goods or services, using incorrect MCC codes (merchant category codes) or other details.
- Drops — cards and accounts through which funds are collected; in such schemes a trigger for investigation can be payment details from gambling sites or suspicious activity on an account.
Operation of the service and banks’ decisions
The service is intended for exchanging risk signals, not for automatic blocking of cards and accounts. If a bank identifies a suspicious payment instrument or merchant, it can pass the information through the AntiFraud HUB, and recipients will verify those data.
After verification, participants will report the results, and based on accumulated information they plan to build a shared database of risky merchants, cards and accounts. Decisions about enhanced monitoring, transaction restrictions or other measures will be taken by each bank independently, taking into account the verification and legal requirements.
Link with government policy on combating illegal gambling
Illegal casinos can mask the purpose of payments or use accounts of front people, which complicates tracing cash flows. Government policy provides for strengthening the detection of financial schemes and information exchange between responsible authorities.
In August 2026 the Cabinet of Ministers approved a strategy that foresees the improvement of tools to detect illegal payments and digital schemes. According to the developers, the effectiveness of the new interbank service will depend on how many banks join the system, how quickly they exchange information and how promptly they verify received signals.
