Forbidden word in BLIK. Don’t try to use it

The story is about Jacek who wrote to the editor The Dangerous Onereporting unusual problem related to the execution of transfers in Polish banks where he has an account. As we can read in the post published on the X website, Jacek noticed that attempts to make a transfer with the title containing the word “KRET” end in failure. Interestingly, this situation concerned most of the banks checked, except Nest Bank.

The attached screenshot shows an attempt to make such a transaction for the amount of PLN 15, which was rejected with the message: Please try again later. The transaction could not be completed.

Jacek explains that he only intended return money to a friend for buying an anti-mole agent. However, there was a suspicion that banking systems might be wrongly identifying the word “KRET” as linked to a sanctioned Russian company. This in turn results in automatic blocking of transactions. This problem concerns both traditional bank transfersas well as those implemented using the BLIK system.

While the situation is bizarre, banks are clearly taking it very seriously. This may raise questions about the effectiveness and accuracy of transaction monitoring systems. At the moment, it is difficult to say for sure whether the problem lies in the malfunction of the systems or whether this is a deliberate preventive action related to international sanctions.

Niebezpiecznik adds in his post that he does not encourage testing this phenomenon on your own, but asks other users to report similar cases if they come across them. If you have also encountered something like this, let us know in the comments.