The Central Bank has developed a temporary procedure to limit the number of bank cards issued to one individual, effective from January 1 to December 31, 2025. This information was reported by the publication Spot, citing its source.

Under the new regulation, the number of cards issued by banks to one citizen (based on one taxpayer identification number) is limited to five per bank and 20 across all banks. This requirement also applies to virtual and co-branded cards but does not extend to cards opened in foreign currencies.

This regulation aims to prevent suspicious (fraudulent) operations involving bank cards and reduce the misuse of individual accounts in fraudulent schemes.

The decision follows investigations revealing that some bank cards, opened in large numbers under individualsʼ names, were being used for fraudulent activities, often without the knowledge of the cardholder.

It is worth noting that the Central Bank stated in November 2024 that it was reviewing a proposal to cap the number of cards per individual at five per bank.