Sberbank’s logo on display inside one of its Moscow offices in December 2020. Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, has found a way to facilitate transfers to European cards despite being disconnected from the international SWIFT payment system, according to a report by independent outlet The Bell.
The Bell found that Sberbank enables transfers to accounts at at least two European neobanks: Revolut, which operates out of the UK and Lithuania, and Germany-based N26.
Sberbank’s customer service confirmed that transfers to the EU are carried out “through the bank’s partners.” “It’s not dangerous. These transfers have always been available,” said a customer support operator. According to the operator, customers can send up to 500,000 rubles (approximately $6,400) per transaction, or up to 3 million rubles (approximately $38,000) per month via a card number. The commission is set at 1% of the total or at a maximum of 3,000 rubles (just under $40).
“We sent two transfers to different cards: the fee for sending 3,000 rubles was 30 rubles, and the transaction was processed at an exchange rate just over 100 rubles per euro (the official Central Bank rate was 91 rubles),” The Bell reported. “Another Sberbank client interviewed by The Bell also successfully transferred money to accounts at Revolut and N26.”
The bank’s website notably lists countries where card-to-card transfers are permitted — but no EU nations are on that list.
The process begins with the bank sending rubles to an intermediary, typically a payment company based in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, or Kazakhstan.
The funds are then converted into cryptocurrency and forwarded to one of several partner providers, depending on the final destination of the payment. This provider completes the transfer to the recipient, sometimes using what’s known as a “drop” card — a bank card registered to a person who lends their identity for various financial operations — including illicit ones
As a result, the recipient sees the money arrive either as a personal transfer or as payment for unspecified services from an unknown sender. Similar channels are often used by online casinos, unlicensed betting platforms, and semi-legal crypto exchanges.
Revolut told The Bell that the described method constitutes a violation of its terms of service. N26 said that it continuously monitors for potential schemes that may be used to circumvent sanctions.
Sberbank is under international sanctions from the US, EU, UK, and multiple other countries due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These measures include asset freezes, removal from the SWIFT system, and bans on international financial transactions.
As of January 2025, multiple Russian banks continued to have access to SWIFT, including UniCredit Bank and Gazprombank. A report by the state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti in September last year claimed that over 200 banks in Russia were still connected to SWIFT.
