Ukraine 2026

Market Overview
Payment Organisation	PROSTIR (Ukrainian Payments Area), formerly NSMEP. Ukrainian Interbank Payment Systems Member Association “EMA”
Domestic Card Brand	PROSTIR cards (replacing NSMEP cards). UkrKart, cards, some are co-badged, Maestro.
Market Structure	PROSTIR, the new domestic contactless card scheme, has won increased support from the Ukrainian payments industry. The first Mastercard and VISA programmes were launched in 1997. From 2014, consolidation of the banking sector following the economic and political crisis (2024: 61 banks, down from 163 in 2014). PrivatBank is the biggest card issuer, followed by Oschadbank. Foreign banks with a significant presence, in addition to Raiffeisen, include UniCredit, BNP Paribas, OTP, and, from Russia, Sberbank, VTB, and Alfa Bank.
Notable Market Trends	Rollout of contactless cards and POS terminals, PROSTIR cards, MasterPass, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and BankID system. The total number of transactions (cashless payments and cash withdrawals) increased by 9.38%, and in value by 7.11% in 2024 compared to 2023. At the same time, non-cash payments accounted for 94.6% of payment card transactions in 2024.
Major Card Issuers	PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, UkrSibBank.
Major Card Acquirers	PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Raiffeisen Bank Aval, Sense Bank
Major Card Processors	UPC, PROSTIR Processing Centre, UkrKart Processing Centre.
Key Statistics 2024
Population	37.86 million, 3.21 cards, and 1.43 active cards per capita
Cards	Debit: 37.70 million Credit: 21.04 million Total active cards: 58.75 million (Note: All card figures are reported as active cards)
Card Transactions	Payments: 8,184.8 million, value: UAH 4,243.5 billion ($105.7 billion) Withdrawals: 469.6 million; value: UAH 2,334.0 billion ($58.1 billion) Total transactions: 8.65 billion; value: UAH 6.57 trillion ($163.8 billion)
POS Terminals	522,951
POS Payments	n/a
ATMs	29,024 ATMs and self-service kiosks, 15,000 PROSTIR ATMs
ATM Withdrawals	n/a
Note: From 2014, figures exclude the figures of the occupied territories of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Note: According to NBU, in 2022, only data for May to December 2022 was captured due to the suspension of statistical reporting on payment from February to April 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For 2023, according to the NBU, the timeframe of May-December was selected for comparison due to the suspension of statistical reporting on payment card transactions in February-April 2022, as set forth in the Rules of Statistical Reporting Submitted to the NBU during a Specific Period.

Introduction – Payments in Ukraine

Ukraine is a parliamentary republic with a unicameral legislature, the Supreme Council (Verkhovna Rada) under a semi-presidential system with separate powers: legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Its capital and largest city is Kiev.

Two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II, but both occasions saw Ukraine’s territories consolidated into a Soviet republic, a situation that persisted until 1991; when Ukraine gained her independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War.

By the end of 2013, Ukraine faced difficult choices over its future adherence either to the EU or to Russia’s Eurasian customs union, with both partners warning that “Ukraine must choose one side or the other.”

The geopolitical consequences of Ukraine’s subsequent decision continue to unfold. To try and stabilise the economy, in March 2014 the IMF agreed a two-year, stand-by loan of $17 billion with the Ukrainian government, with conditions including a 30% devaluation of the hryvnia, fiscal austerity and raising domestic gas prices, subsidised to the extent of over 7% of GDP, to market levels. The loan was payable in tranches, subject to the conditions being met.

The Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement was signed in March 2014. It is an agreement between the European Union (EU), Euratom, Ukraine and the 28 EU Member States. It establishes a political and economic association between the parties. The agreement entered into force on September 1, 2017.

The parties committed to co-operate and converge economic policy, legislation, and regulation across a broad range of areas, including equal rights for workers, steps towards visa-free movement of people, the exchange of information and staff in the area of justice, the modernisation of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and access to the European Investment Bank.

On 1 January 2016, Ukraine joined the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with European Union, in order to modernise Ukraine’s economy, governance and rule of law to EU standards and gradually increase integration with the EU Internal market.

The NBU, banks, and payment schemes have fostered much innovation in Ukraine over the past couple of years – digital mobile wallets, online payments, and account-to-account transfers are all rising in usage, and the planned instant payment system being developed by the NBU will usher in even more non-cash usage.

Mobile banking is used by over 70% of the population, showing how Ukraine has achieved a high level of payment digitisation. In 2020, the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (MDTU) joined forces to digitise the banking system via the Diia mobile app for ID. The partnership aims to allow bank customers who have an electronic passport or ID app to no longer require paper documents to confirm their identification in a bank office. As of the end of 2023, 94% of payment card users could access online services using the NBU’s BankID system.

The Russia-Ukraine Conflict – On the 24th of February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, a significant escalation of the conflict which began in 2014 when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed separatists seized part of the Donbas region in south-eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky enacted martial law and a general mobilisation of all male Ukrainian citizens between 18 and 60.

Ukraine’s industries, infrastructure, and economy have experienced major disruptions, which continue as of late-2024 when this report was compiled. Russian-owned banks have been liquidated, Russian-owned money transfer companies and e-money companies have ceased operating in Ukraine, and remittances between the two countries have reduced significantly. Ukraine’s government, central bank, regulators, and financial institutions have striven to keep banking and payment operations running as normal, and as of end-2024, Ukrainians can still access and use most forms of payment methods, although some operational disruptions are to be expected.

Given the situation in Ukraine, some central bank, and commercial bank data and payment statistics may be incomplete but all efforts have been made to source credible data from third parties where possible.

Banking Sector

Established in 1992, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is an autonomous state-owned institution operating in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of the National Bank of Ukraine. The NBU’s General Department of Banking Supervision supervises the banking sector within Ukraine.

Ukraine is experiencing one of the most challenging periods in its modern history. The ongoing economic, social and political crisis has hit all market segments and the banking sector in particular. Industrial output decline, capital outflows, job cuts, and the vast volatility of the monetary fundamentals and the exchange rate created an extremely challenging environment for local banks.

According to the NBU, one of the key problems currently faced by Ukrainian banks is the liquidity shortage, enhanced by vast deposit outflow. During 2014, the Ukrainian banking sector lost UAH 200 billion ($9.3 billion) in deposits, which is about 15% of the banking sector’s total assets. As a result, banks faced a liquidity crunch, and many of them had no other option but to close and leave the market. Since the beginning of the crisis, 44 banks were assimilated by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, thus leaving the market.

On 6 May 2014, the NBU ordered Ukrainian banks to cease operating in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Real GDP expanded by 2.5% in 2017, 3.5% in 2018 and 3.2% growth in 2019. Household consumption and domestic investment in fixed assets fuelled, in turn, by residential construction were the main drivers of the output in growth during the period between 2014 and 2019. Inflows of remittances hit a record of $10.89 billion in 2018 – 8.2% of total GDP that year.

The NBU initially estimated that GDP would grow by 3.5% in 2020, helped by industrial growth and increased foreign demand, but the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 4% fall in GDP. According to Ukraine’s State Statistic Service, real GDP grew by 3.4% in 2021, partly due to slower investment growth. In 2022, Ukraine’s GDP contracted by 29.2%, dragged by the impact of Russia’s invasion on Ukraine’s economy as exports fell 35% in 2022 from 2021, and physical volumes were down 38.4%. However, this represents a lower decline compared to the World Bank’s estimate of 45% in 2022. In 2023, Ukraine’s real GDP rebounded, growing by 5.3% after a significant 29.2% decline in 2022. This recovery was driven by businesses’ adaptability to wartime conditions, the establishment of alternative trading routes, and bumper crops.  The World Bank expects a marginal recovery in GDP by 4.8% in 2024. Real GDP growth in 2024 came in lower than the World Bank’s forecast at 2.9%, dragged by disruptions to energy infrastructure, drought-induced drop in agricultural output, and war-driven constraints while domestic consumption and construction boosted growth.

Consumer price inflation slowed from peak levels in 2015 but remained elevated at 8.9% in 2018, followed by a decline to 4.1% in 2019. By the end of 2020, inflation had stabilised at 5%, within the NBU’s target range. In 2021, inflation reached 10%, due to a rapid recovery of aggregate demand, fuelled by large-scale fiscal and monetary stimuli, as well as from disruptions in global production and supply chains in the wake of pandemic quarantine restrictions. In particular, this led to a sizeable increase in energy prices and the prices of raw materials and components. In 2022, inflation worsened to 26.6% as the war disrupted supply chains and logistics. By 2023, inflation declined significantly from 26.6% to 5.1% due to a number of factors including the NBU’s measures to maintain the sustainability of the FX, fixing of tariffs for some utilities, and increase in the supply of food products due to good harvests. In 2024, however, inflation surged to 12% due to rising food prices as a result of poor harvest as well as electricity prices.

Structure

In 2014-15, the banking sector experienced a disaster scenario owing to the political and economic crisis associated with the Crimean Autonomous Region. The transfer of Privatbank into state ownership at the end of December 2016 drastically changed the banking sector structure.

As at end-2024, there were 61 registered banks (2013: 180), of which 59 banks (2013: 143) were members of Ukrainian card payment systems. In 2020, two banks were declared insolvent after they failed to meet capital requirements. Bank of Arkada was closed in August 2020, the first bank closure since VTB in 2018. Over 50 banks were still in the liquidation process, including 28 banks in 2019 and nine in 2020. In 2024, one bank was liquidated and had its license revoked.

Of the 61 operating banks, 14 were foreign-owned (excluding two Russian state banks) while 40 private banks were Ukrainian-owned. In July 2023, Sense Bank (formerly Alfa Bank) was nationalised in Ukraine. During 2024, two small banks were reclassified as state-owned banks after they were transferred from sanctioned entities to state ownership: First Investment Bank (0.01% of total sector assets) and Motor-Bank (0.02% of sector assets). There are seven state-owned banks – PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Ukreximbank, Ukrgazbank, Sense Bank, First Investment Bank, and Motor Bank. Many medium- and small-sized banks are owned by industrial and commercial groups.

In December 2019, the liquidation of about 40 banks out of 95 had been completed. In 2019, Vernum Bank surrendered its license and became a financial company, while Alfa-Bank Ukraine and Ukrsotsbank completed their merger in October 2019, with Alfa-Bank Ukraine acquiring all rights and obligations of Ukrsotsbank.

In 2024, one bank was declared insolvent after failing to comply with their obligations to depositors and other creditors due to a lack of funds. In addition, the Settlement Center surrendered its banking license without closing its legal entity and became a non-bank financial institution.

The state-owned banks represent 53.3% of the total bank assets in 2024. At the end of 2024, the 20 largest banks held more than 93.4% of the sector’s assets. As at end-2021, NBU said there were 30 banks with foreign capital (2017: 38), including 22 with 100% foreign capital. The share of foreign banks in total banking sector assets was 25.9% by end-2024.

Overall, as of 2023, there were 6,116 registered stand-alone units of Ukrainian banks, including subsidiaries and representative offices, along with two branch offices outside of Ukraine. By 2024, the network of banks shrank to about 5,000 units due to branch closures and Cominvestbank’s insolvency.

In January 2020, the NBU, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the National Commission for Regulation of Financial Services Markets (NCFS), the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF), and the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine signed and started implementing the Strategy of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2025.

The goal of the Strategy is to ensure that the reform and development of Ukraine’s financial sector moves forward in line with international best practices and that the actions envisaged by the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and Ukraine’s other international commitments are implemented. The Strategy was drafted as an extension to the Comprehensive Program of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2020, which identified reform priorities for regulators over the past five years.

The strategy outlines five major priorities of financial sector development: strengthening financial stability; promoting macroeconomic development and economic growth; developing financial markets; expanding financial inclusion; and introducing innovations in the financial sector.

In 2023, the NBU updated the Strategy of the National Bank of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the NBU Strategy) and the Strategy of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development, factoring in the risks that the banking system is facing under martial law and will face in the post-war period. In particular, the NBU analysed developments and changes across several areas: political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental. Based on the results of further work by the NBU experts and other stakeholders, the presentation of updated strategy documents of the NBU and the financial sector is planned for 2023. Following the two-year implementation, the NBU had to revise the NBU Strategy 2025 due to the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The Committee met in July 2024 to monitor the implementation of the Strategy and update it. Based on the meeting outcomes, the process of updating the Strategy was launched in 2024.

According to the NBU, one of the financial system’s weaknesses is the relatively high share of state-owned banks in the banking sector, as it discourages competition and poses significant systemic risks. Reducing the market share of state-owned banks to 25% by 2025 is one of the strategic goals that Ukraine has set for itself. The NBU is, in turn, working to build on the current corporate governance model and to help reduce NPLs so as to boost the privatisation potential of state-owned banks. The system’s NPL ratio shrank to 30.0% by December 2021, down from 41% in early 2021 and from 48.4% in early 2020. The largest contribution to this reduction came from state-owned banks. In 2023, the NPL ratio increased by 0.8%, to 38.1% as Russia’s invasion interrupted the declining trend in NPLs that began in 2018. The recovery of lending helped improve the quality of the loan portfolio due to favourable economic conditions, the NPL ratio remained almost flat in 2023. The NPL ratio has decreased by 0.8% since the beginning of 2023 to 37.4%. By 2024, the NPL ratio declined by 7.1 ppts to 30.3%, reflecting an improvement in the quality of the loan portfolio. The main driver of the NPL ratio decline remained loan write-offs and the growth in new loans. In 2024, the NPL ratio declined in all groups of banks.

According to the NBU, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have far-reaching consequences for the financial sector. However, most banks are operating without interruption, maintaining their liquidity, and continuing to lend. At the same time, the NBU had to impose tight restrictions on FX transactions and cross-border capital movement to prevent panic, halted unproductive capital outflows, and contributed to a decrease in depreciation pressures. The NBU has been intervening heavily, selling foreign currency in order to balance the FX market.

1 - Banks in Card Business
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Number of licensed Banks	73	71	67	63	61	-3.17%	-4.05%
- of which state-owned banks	5	4	4	6	7	16.67%	6.96%
- of which foreign-owned banks	20	20	16	14	14	0.00%	-6.89%
- of which private-owned banks	48	47	47	43	40	-6.98%	-4.36%
Banks active in payment systems	70	68	66	62	59	-4.84%	-3.36%
- as percentage of all banks	95.9%	95.8%	98.5%	98.4%	96.7%	-1.72%	0.72%
Banks with foreign capital	33	33	30	28	26	-7.14%	-5.77%
- of which with 100% foreign capital	23	23	22	20	19	-5.00%	-3.75%
Total bank net assets (UAH bn)	1,823.0	2,053.8	2,351.7	2,944.9	3,414.9	15.96%	17.98%
- of which state-owned banks	53%	50%	53%	56%	53%	-4.82%	-0.59%
- of which foreign-owned banks	30%	30%	28%	24%	26%	7.92%	-2.77%
Note: figures for insolvent banks and banks under liquidation not included. Market shares in % of total assets. Effective from 2017, Privatbank is now state-owned.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

European banks were major investors in the Ukrainian banking sector in the period before the crisis. The most prominent foreign investors included Raiffeisen Bank International (Raiffeisenbank Bank Aval), UniCredit (via UkrSotsBank), Vnesheconombank (Prominvestbank), VTB Bank, BNP Paribas (UkrSibBank), Sberbank (Sberbank of Russia) and OTP Bank.

Following the annexation of Crimea, Russia’s central bank closed down Ukrainian banks operating in the peninsula. Those reported affected were UkrSotsBank (UniCredit Bank), Delta Bank, Marfin Bank, Oschadbank, UkrSibbank (BNP Paribas), CityCommerceBank, Forum Bank, Avtokrazbank and Platinum Bank. St. Petersburg-based Bank Rossiya was the first to open in Crimea after the annexation.

Four banks were liquidated in 2023 – Forward Bank, Ibox Bank, Concord Bank, and Ukrbudinvestbank. The total share of these financial institutions was less than 1% of solvent banks’ assets, so their withdrawal from the market did not affect the operation of the banking sector. As of the end of the year, the sector comprised 63 banks. In 2024, two small banks were reclassified as state-owned banks after they were transferred from sanctioned entities to state ownership: First Investment Bank (0.01% of total sector assets) and Motor-Bank (0.02% of sector assets). In spite of that, the share of net assets of the state-owned banks dropped by 0.3 ppts, to 53.3% over the year.

The sector’s assets decreased by 2% over the year. At the same time, the number of institutions declined. Over the year, 29 credit unions were removed from the register – mostly those that did not take deposits. At the end of the year, total assets accounted for 61% of the pre-war level.

2 - Main Banks in Ukraine end-2024
Bank	Ownership	Assets (UAHbn)	Assets ($bn)	Market share
PrivatBank	State: 100%	761.53	18.97	20.21%
Oshadbank	State: 100%	428.59	10.67	11.38%
UkrEximBank	State: 100%	291.15	7.25	7.73%
UkrGazBank	State: 94.9% ; Others: 5.06%	198.90	4.95	5.28%
Raiffeisen Bank	Raiffeisen RBI Group (A): 68.21%, EBRD: 30% ; Others; 1.79%	219.84	5.48	5.84%
Sense Bank (previously Alfa Bank)	State: 100%	123.71	3.08	3.28%
First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB)	SCM Finance (UA): 92.3%; SCM Holdings (CY)(7.7%)	186.60	4.65	4.95%
UkrSibBank	BNP Paribas (F): 60%, EBRD: 40%	169.10	4.21	4.49%
OTP Bank	OTP Bank Group 100%	113.81	2.83	3.02%
Credit Agricole Bank	Credit Agricole Group ; 100%	116.93	2.91	3.10%
other banks		1157.01	28.82	30.71%
Total assets (all banks)		3,767.18	93.82	100.00%
Note: SberBank started operation fully in the second half of 2023
Note: ProminvestBank is yet to commence operation
Note: in June 2021 Raiffeisen Bank Aval changed it's name to Raiffeisen Bank.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Four banks were liquidated in 2023: Forward Bank, Ibox Bank, Concord Bank, and Ukrbudinvestbank.

PrivatBank, the largest bank in 2024 with total assets of UAH 761.53 billion, accounted for 20.21% of the total banking sector assets. PrivatBank is one of the ten largest banks in Eastern Europe providing services for more than 25 million clients. The leader by far in payment cards and retail banking, PrivatBank had been privately owned by two Ukrainian entrepreneurs, Borysovych Bogolyubov and Igor Valeryovych Kolomoyskiy. However, in January 2017, PrivatBank became a state-owned bank. The move saved the funds of over 20 million customers and minimized risks to financial stability that resulted from a significant lack of capital at the systemically important bank. In late September 2019, the Financial Times reported that the Ukrainian government was mulling a deal with the bank’s previous owners relating to their claims of unfair treatment at the time of privatization. However, in June 2020, the Ukraine Supreme Court rejected the previous owners’ case and ruled in favor of the state.

In defiance of the credit crunch, in December 2009, PrivatBank announced plans to open new branches across all regions of Ukraine, with parallel development of its POS terminal and ATM network. As of December 2024, PrivatBank had 12 macro-regional offices and 1,163 functioning outlets in Ukraine and a branch in Cyprus (1 January 2017: 30 branches, 2,247 outlets in Ukraine and a branch in Cyprus). The bank also claimed 17,278 ATMs and e self-service terminals as well as 316,078 POS terminals.

PrivatBank had developed a Russian subsidiary, MoscomPrivatBank. (2013: 79.18%). In April 2014, the agreement on sale of Moscomprivatbank legal interest of 79.18% was concluded and PrivatBank disposed of this subsidiary. In December 2014, PrivatBank also disposed of its subsidiary “Privatbank Georgia” (57.86%) and sold it to Bank of Georgia (GE). Effective 19 December 2016, its 46.54% share in “PrivatBank Latvia” was transferred to the Ukrainian state.

In its 2021 annual report, PrivatBank stated that with 18 million active customers (2020: 17.8 million), 50% of Ukrainians over 16 consider PrivatBank their main bank. More than 20 million people have used PrivatBank’s services at least once in their lives, half of all users of banking services in Ukraine, from individuals to companies and entrepreneurs. As of 2024, PrivatBank claimed to serve more than 18 million active individual customers and 910,000 business clients.

Oschadbank, as the former ‘State Savings Bank of Ukraine’ and the national counterpart of Sberbank, has the country’s second-biggest network, with 1,150 branches, 5,172 ATMs and self-service terminals, and 82,765 POS terminals – and is the only bank whose deposits are fully guaranteed by the state. As at end-2021, Oschadbank claimed a total of over 5 million customers, with more than one in five Ukrainians holding an Oschadbank Salary Card by 2023. As of the end of 2024, Oschadbank claimed that it is the largest bank in Ukraine by the number of branches, the second largest bank by the number of ATMs and payment terminals, and the third by the number of payments cards issued.

In 2020, Oschad had significant achievements in digitalisation. Internet and mobile banking, with customer numbers using Oschad 24/7 growing rapidly. As of 2020, the share of digital transactions conducted in bank branches was 10.5%, compared to 14.5% in 2019. At the same time, the share of payments performed by MSME customers remotely reached 98.4% (only 1.6% payments are made with paper payment orders).  All other transactions are made by customers via ATMs, information, and payment terminals and the Oschad 24/7 system.

In 2020, Oschadbank switched to a direct contract with Western Union, the largest global money transfer system, which, apart from increasing commission income, provides new opportunities in terms of sending/paying transfers through online channels and converting transfers from foreign currency to UAH and vice versa.

In 2023, Oschadbank obtained 29,500 new MSME customers.

UkrEximBank, the state-owned bank, is the third largest Ukrainian bank by total banking assets. In 2024, UkrEximBank reported 680,000 private clients and 32,000 corporate clients. The Bank’s regional network numbers 22 branches, 27 sub-branches, and two Representative offices. UrEximBank is currently in the fifth year of a strategic shift towards corporate banking and trade financing, away from retail banking. This strategy will last until 2023, after which the bank’s performance will be reviewed by its State owners.

As of 2024, UkrEximBank was the third-largest bank by assets, with UAH 291.15 billion, or 7.73% of total banks’ assets in Ukraine.

Raiffeisen Bank (RB), formerly Raiffeisen Bank Aval, reported more than 17.9 million customers and 1,391 business outlets at end-2024. The purchase of RB in 2005 for $1 billion is the largest acquisition made by the Raiffeisen Group and was swiftly followed by Raiffeisen’s purchase of the Ukraine Processing Centre (UPC) for a further undisclosed sum.

In September 2013, Raiffeisen downgraded its Ukraine and Belarus operations by telling shareholders that in the future it will focus on six core markets: Austria, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Romania. As of 2024, the bank’s major shareholders were Raiffeisen Bank International AG, with 68.19%; the EBRD with 30.02%, with the remainder held by Cyprus entities.

Sberbank of Russia (SBU) – From 2013, SBU was listed in the top 10 banks in Ukraine and accounted for 3.5% of total turnover in the retail banking sector in 2020. In 2020, SBU reported more than 500,000 private clients, about 40,000 of small and medium-sized businesses and more than 2,000 of corporate clients. The Bank’s regional network numbers 91 branches. Since 2014, the bank has operated under restrictions following allegations that its Russian parent bank financed Russia’s intervention in the Crimean region.

In May 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council seized the assets belonging to Russia and its residents, including Sberbank of Ukraine and 99.8% of shares in Prominvestbank (PIB) owned by Russian development corporation VEB. Ukraine also announced the seizure of other financial assets of the subsidiaries of Russian banks, except UAH 3 billion belonging to the International Reserve Bank that will be used to meet claims from creditors.

Sberbank announced plans to challenge the seizure by Ukraine of its assets in the country.

UkrSibBank – BNP Paribas’s purchase price for its initial 51% of UkrSibBank has not been disclosed; in May 2011, EBRD bought 15% of UkrSibBank as part of a $220 million financing package agreed with BNP Paribas. As of 2023, the proportion of EBRD’s shares was 40%, while the share of BNP Paribas totalled 60%. The bank reported about 2.4 million customers, 201 branches, and 800 ATMs across Ukraine in 2023.

In 2021, UkrSibBank launched the fee-free Sport Card offering 5% cashback for payments in affiliated fitness outlets and sports shops.

First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) is the largest of the fully privately-owned Ukrainian banks. In 2016, FUIB completed the last technological stage of its merger with Bank Renaissance Credit. In 2024, the bank had 1.85 million clients, five regional centres, 218 branches, and 718 ATMs. SCM Finance holds 92.3% of its shares, with SCM Holdings Cyprus holding 7.7%.

Sense Bank Ukraine (formerly: Alfa-Bank) – In 2007, UniCredit’s Bank-Austria paid over $2 billion for 94.2% of UkrSotsBank, which was rebranded as UniCredit Bank in December 2013 through integration of Ukrsotsbank and “UniCredit Bank (UA)”. In January 2016, UniCredit Group (I) sold UkrSotsBank to the Luxembourg-based investment holding, ABH Holding (ABHH). In exchange for the transaction, UniCredit Group had owned a 9.9% stake in ABHH. In 2021, ABH Holding held shares (57.6%), and Ukraine (42.39%).

Alfa-Bank Ukraine and UkrSotsBank completed their merger in October 2019, with Alfa-Bank Ukraine acquiring all rights and obligations of UkrSotsBank. In 2024, Sense Bank operated 139 branches, had 1.4 million retail customers, 40,000 SMEs, 5,000 corporate clients, and over 441 ATMs in its network.

In December 2022, Alfa Bank changed its name to Sense Bank following the development of the Sense SuperApp digital bank. The Ukraine government has purchased Sense Bank due to the bank’s association with Fridman and Aven, who are connected “with the government of the country-aggressor” and are currently under sanctions in Ukraine.

Foreign Banks in Ukraine – There is a long list of other western banks which have made acquisitions in the Ukraine, including Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Erste Bank, Swedbank, SEB, Commerzbank, Intesa Sanpaolo and several Greek banks – Eurobank, Piraeus Bank and Alpha Bank, along with OTP Group from Hungary and Marfin Popular Bank from Cyprus (see Appendix for further details and subsequent sales).

Among the Russian banks, VTB and Alfa rank among the major banks, while VEB, the Russian state-owned development bank, bought 75% of PromInvestBank in January 2010 and held 99.77% in 2019. In March 2020 a 99.77% stake in Prominvestbank was sold to a company named Fortifay, who sold these shares in October 2020 to Cypriot company Luregio Limited (Luregio Limited’s ultimate beneficiary is Serhiy Tihipko).

ING closed its Ukrainian operation in 2009. It was the first western bank to exit Ukraine, followed by Swedbank and SEB in 2011-12. Consumer lending specialists have been among the worst-hit, particularly Société Générale and Home Credit Bank; the latter sold out to Platinum Bank in 2011. In general, departing western banks have sold out to Ukrainian businessmen, often for much less than they paid.

Digital Banking

All retail banks in Ukraine offer online banking and mobile banking apps to their clients. As of 2024, there were 31.5 million internet users in Ukraine, representing a penetration rate of 82.4% of the population. As of 2024, it was estimated that mobile banking was used by about 75% of the population. Ukrainians most often use Internet banking to replenish their mobile phones, pay for goods and services on the Internet, transfer funds from card to card within one bank and pay for utilities.

Internet banking is popular among retail users and small companies. Most of the Ukrainian banks operating have implemented online banking systems for corporate customers.

As of 2021, banks of Ukraine serviced 72.2 million customers, including 2.9 million business entities (4%), of which 1.8 million were sole proprietors, and 69.3 million individuals (96%). Banks opened a total of 142 million accounts for their customers in 2021, with a total of 5.6 million accounts opened for business entities. Almost all of these accounts (5.6 million) were current accounts, whereas deposit accounts accounted for 0.07 million. Over 2.3 million business entities’ accounts (79%) were serviced remotely, which allowed bank customers to track account balances and conduct transactions under their accounts in real-time.

Banks opened 136.3 million accounts for individuals, with 119.9 million (88%) being current accounts and 16.4 million (12%) being deposit accounts. More than 44.2 million individuals (64%) were serviced remotely.

In 2021, the number of clients receiving remote services increased for business entities by 3%, and for individuals by 6%.

There is no bank-independent electronic banking standard in the Ukraine; each bank offers its own proprietary system for banking purposes.

The Client-Bank system, a common platform operated by a number of commercial banks, provides balance and transaction reporting and payment initiation services. Information can be transmitted via the Client-Bank system using the NBU’s Data Transfer Network (DTN).

In October 2020, the NBU and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (MDTU) joined forces to digitise the banking system of Ukraine via the Diia mobile app for ID. This cooperation will result in accessible online services of the global standards that open new possibilities for both banks and customers. The partnership aims to allow bank customers that have an electronic passport or ID app to no longer require paper documents to confirm their identification in a bank office.

During 2021 the number of subscribers joining the NBU BankID System increased, with 13 banks connected to the NBU BankID System as identifying subscribers and 54 new subscribers as service providers. As of the end of 2021, the NBU BankID System participants totalled 104, comprising 39 identifying subscribers (Ukrainian banks) and 92 subscribed service providers, including eight banks providing online services by remote customer ID. By 2024, 21 new service providers connected to the NBU BankID System, of which 18 are commercial institutions and three are nonprofit organisations and one was a new subscriber-identifier, Piraeus Bank. As of the beginning of 2025, the overall number of NBU BankID System subscribers included 39 subscribed identifiers (banks of Ukraine), and 110 subscribed service providers, of which 96 are commercial and 14 non-commercial (in particular, the DIIA mobile app and the ID.gov.ua portal). As of the end of 2024, the NBU BankID System had 149 participants.

As of 2021, 99.6% of people holding accounts with Ukrainian banks could receive remote services through the NBU BankID System and this increased to 99.9% in 2023. In 2021, owing to fruitful cooperation of the NBU with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, bank customers gained quick access to the Diia mobile app, including to services on vaccination certificates, and the ePidtrymka state support programme. In 2021, the NBU BankID System executed over 30 million successful electronic IDs, four times more than in 2020 (7.6 million), and a hundred times more than in 2019 (300,000). By the end of 2021, the NBU BankID System transmitted 110 successful user identifications per minute. In 2024, the NBU BankID system was used to execute 87.7 million successful electronic identifications, which is 104% higher than in 2023 (44.8 million).

In 2022, in order to promote the development of the NBU’s BankID system, the NBU BankID Personal account was introduced to simplify information sharing – both between subscribers during settlements and directly with the NBU. In addition, the introduction of standardised data sets and differential tariffs has been approved. This ensures subscribed service providers are only able to glean from the subscriber identifier the user data that is required to provide the subscriber with a service. Settlements between subscribers, along with the formation and transmission of entries from the system to the NBU’s automated banking system, are also carried out automatically, thereby simplifying settlement procedures.

In 2023, to promote the development of the NBU’s BankID system, the regulator adopted some important changes and finalised the relevant software. In particular, it introduced new system functionality based on standardised data sets and differentiated inter-subscriber tariffs. This approach advances data protection, optimises costs for subscribed service providers by obtaining only the required range of user data needed to provide a specific service, and expands the application scope of the system thanks to flexible tariffs. The NBU also enhanced user data protection of the NBU BankID System by clarifying requirements for multifactor authentication of users by subscriber identifiers, according to which each factor must belong to a different category (knowledge, possession, inherency) and must be independent of each other, making it impossible them to be compromised simultaneously.

An important project that the NBU is pursuing with the EBRD is the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions that provides for cooperation in support of financial inclusion and reintegration of war veterans in Ukraine, signed on 9 April 2024. The purpose of the MoU is to promote the development of inclusive and accessible financial services, cooperation in the field of financial inclusion and reintegration of veterans into civilian life and the economy, as well as the inclusion of Ukrainian banks in the Charter on Financial Inclusion and Reintegration of Veterans. As of the end of 2024, 38 Ukrainian banks have signed this charter.

To implement the Strategy of Ukrainian Financial Sector Development until 2025 and the NBU Strategy 2025, the NBU took a number of steps to simplify requirements for bank account opening procedures, allowing people to use an e-passport, e-birth certificate, or taxpayer e-ID number as verification with the Diia mobile app. The service is available on bank mobile apps or websites. Access codes (QR-codes and barcodes) are generated on customer smartphones.

In 2021, to promote electronic trust services in the banking system, two more banks were granted the status of certified service provided by regulators: First Ukrainian International Bank and Bank Alliance. As of the end of 2021, the NBU and seven banks were certified providers of electronic trust services. The number of customers was about 5.1 million, and the number of generated electronic signatures amounted to 2.175 billion.

In 2022, at the NBU’s initiative, all systemically important banks combined their efforts to set up POWER BANKING, an integrated network of bank branches that provide customers with the necessary banking services even during long-lasting power outages. This is a joint network of bank branches that spans all of Ukraine and that will operate and render banking services to clients even during blackouts. The branches making up the joint network have alternative energy sources, backup communication channels, enhanced cash collection capabilities, and additional staff. In 2023, the POWER BANKING project, ensures the uninterrupted operation of banks even in critical situations – in the event of blackouts, cyberattacks, or unavailability of communication channels. Emergency protocols were carefully developed. Their effectiveness was proven in March 2024 during Russia’s intensive missile attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure

By the end of 2022, this network included almost 1,450 branches equipped with alternative energy sources, backup communication channels, enhanced cash collection capabilities, and additional staff. In the event of a possible blackout, a certain list of basic and urgent banking services will be available to all customers of the POWER BANKING network, including cash withdrawals (via ATMs or at the bank’s cash desk). In most branches of the POWER BANKING network, the initiative of “national ATM roaming” was also introduced. It is aimed at providing customers with the opportunity to withdraw cash from their payment cards at any ATM of any bank to meet their current needs and build up a certain cash reserve.

During 2020, PrivatBank’s customers actively switched from bank branches to online, while visits to bank branches decreased by 30%. Its mobile banking platform Privat24 grew rapidly in 2020, in part due to COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns which pushed up digital banking usage. The number of customers using Privat24 grew by 3.5 million people to over 12.6 million Privat24 users, with 29% more payments and transfers via Privat24 compared to 2019.

As of 2020, the bank offered virtual cards instantly issued via the Privat24 app, meaning customers no longer need to visit a branch to open a PrivatBank card. As of 2020, there were 440,000 virtual cards issued, with the bank estimating that 850,000 by 2021. During the year, the bank also launched online identification service SmartID, biometric payment terminals via FacePay24, and digital signature, allowing clients to open an account and sign documents remotely. On average, 3,100 PrivatBank customers use SmartID daily.

More than 18 million Ukrainians use PrivatBank on a regular basis and in 2022, the number of Privat24 digital bank clients reached 18 million customers. As of 2021, PrivatBank provided more than 176 digital and remote service capabilities, including an expanded roll-out of virtual cards instantly issued via the Privat24 mobile app. As of January 2025, most payment cards were issued in the international payment system Mastercard (67.9 million, or 51.5%). PrivatBank was the top card issuing bank (42.9% of all issued cards).

Oschadbank claims to be the second-largest in the share of digital transactions (Oschad 24/7 service). In 2020, the number of bank customers using its digital channels rose to 116,500 from 93,300 in 2019. Digital banking has become an important delivery channel. In 2019 there were 190,400 digital transactions, rising to 198,700 in 2020. In 2019, 16.7% of transactions went through Oschad 24/7, and by 2020 it had risen to 30.7%.

The remote service system for micro, small and medium business customers, which was introduced in 2017, is already used by almost 120,000 customers, and the share of payments made by MSME entities using paper documents is only 1.6% of the total number of transactions in this segment. The bank is also developing and testing its own international fund transfer system, with registration and active development is planned for 2021-2022.

In 2020, Oschadbank launched its OschadPAY app, which makes it possible to accept payments through a smartphone using NFC technology.

In 2021, Oschadbank reported that the number of mobile and internet banking customers grew by 840,000 to 5.9 million users in 2021. In 2024, Oschadbank reported over 2.7 million financially active users of its mobile banking application based on Oschad 24/7 and the number of users who used the application in 2024 was more than 4.0 million persons. At the same time, the share of deposits opened through the Internet and Oschad 24/7 mobile application increased by 37%.

Oschadbank implemented 10 digital projects in 2021. A key one was the launch of the new Mobile Oschad application. Others include the launch of the new website, identification, and verification via Diia at Oschad branches, launch of the eSupport digital card, introduction of the Sofia voice assistant in the Contact Centre, and the ability to make contactless payments with the Mi Smart Band 6 NFC fitness bracelet and the Swatch Pay watch.

In 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, UkrEximBank introduced a set of technologies aiding remote interaction with customers. To minimise the need to visit bank branches, digital signature services through the iFOBS remote service system were implemented for the first time (including the conclusion of deposit agreements). The iFOBS remote customer service system also added services for corporate payment cards.

In 2020, for the first time, the bank offered the Enter EXIM mobile banking service to individual customers, and the number of users in 2020 exceeded 110,000 people. The introduction sending push notifications on transactions of individuals provided the bank a cost saving of up to UAH 0.3 million a month compared to sending text messages.

During 2021, UkrEximBank implemented the NBU BankID system for online access and verification of customers using the Diia mobile app, alongside expanding the functionality of the mobile app to include digital payment cards and IBAN display to facilitate transfers.

Raiffeisen Bank Aval stated that the pandemic also led to a change in customer behaviour actively shifting to online and digital channels, which has accelerated the implementation of Raiffeisen Bank Aval’s digital transformation programme.

To provide entrepreneurs and legal entities with remote access to banking services, the bank launched an online banking solution (Raiffeisen Business Online), which is also available via mobile app. Moreover, a “virtual branch” was launched to allow for the remote servicing of customers from 88 branches, as well as a cutting-edge cloud platform, AVALaunch, to assist with the implementation of new technical standards across the group.

In 2020, Sberbank continued to develop the Sberbank online platform, launching currency exchange operations, 3DS 2.0, push notifications, and a virtual card were implemented. Additionally, cross-border transfers were implemented, along with a new authorisation method using the Bank ID app. Online payment acquiring using Apple Pay and Google Pay tokens were introduced, along with digital signatures.

In July 2017, former managers of PrivatBank launched Monobank, Ukraine’s “first” virtual bank, allowing customers to conduct transactions from their smartphones. It provides services such as paying utilities and recharging phone balances. Monobank, which works with Universal Bank, states that it signed up 100,000 new users in its first three months of operation. As of 2024, Monobank had over 8.5 million customers.

In January 2020, Monobank launched its Koto app and card in the UK. It is offering lending services, a card, the option to send money for free, and use the card abroad with no FX fees. The bank also launched IRON Bank, a metalised card based around the Mastercard World Elite product structure.

The digital-only Sportbank was established in 2019 and has attracted nearly 500,000 users as of August 2022. Sportbank is the first and only neobank with two banking licenses, from Oxi Bank, and Tascombank. As of 2021, Sportbank’s founders were considering using only Tascombank’s license in the future. As of May 6, 2024, Sportbank ceased operations as a standalone neobank. New customer onboarding was halted on April 17, and the app was fully discontinued by May 12, 2024. By the time of shutdown, Sportbank had reached approximately 600,000 users according to retrospective estimates reported in 2025.

Payment Services

In 2025, the more than 300 different payment services offered in Europe can be grouped into:

• Card brands and card types
• E-Money and prepaid products by issued brand
• Account-based payment services by issued brand, e.g. IBAN-based SCT/SDD services
• Advanced payment services. e.g. wallets by issued brand
• Digital payment services, e.g. digital scheme wallets by issued brand

Card Brands and Card Types

All Ukrainian retail banks issue cards. In parallel, the development of payroll schemes continued to drive cards usage. PROSTIR (formerly NSMEP) and UkrKart are the domestic card schemes.

Ukrainian card products like consumer cards, commercial cards and purchasing cards range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards. Additional card features (e.g. picture cards, bonus points, PIN selection at ATMs and card control by SMS notification) are used to attract cardholders. Also, individual picture cards and collector cards can be issued on demand. Further, card-to-card P2P services have been launched.

In 2021, EMV migration achieved over 94.53% of the active card base (2020: 74.54%, 2019: 45.69%, 2018: 27.84%, 2017: 29.12%,2016: 18.33% 2015: 14.2%, 2014: 11.7%). In 2022; the EMV migration is de-facto complete.

From July 2023, banks and other card issuers will no longer issue Maestro cards. Instead, they will need to issue Debit Mastercard. Maestro was launched in 1991 and was the world’s first debit card that could be used via an online network. About 400 million Maestro cards are in circulation worldwide, mainly across Europe. However, Maestro is not enabled for the demands of e-commerce and cannot be used for online or in-app payments, hence the decision to phase it out in favour of Mastercard Debit products. Visa announced that Electron cards will be phased out globally in 2024. The features of the Visa Debit card have been modified to match the features of the Visa Electron card.

Debit cards issued are PROSTIR, Mastercard, VISA, Maestro, and Electron cards. There are no V PAY cards in circulation.

Credit Cards issued are cards branded PROSTIR, VISA, Mastercard, UnionPay or American Express.

Prepaid Cards – The Ukrainian banks have started to issue prepaid cards and virtual prepaid cards for internet use.

Co-branded cards – In the Ukraine, only a few co-branded cards are in circulation. Raiffeisen AVAL Bank issuer a co-branded ISIC Maestro card for students and a co-branded VISA FISHKA card with the bonus program provider FISHKA.

In April 2021, JCB announced it had entered the Ukraine market and would work with local banks to issue JCB-branded cards. JCB is now the fifth international card payment system in the country along with American Express, Mastercard, Visa, and UnionPay.

Contactless Cards and form-factors

Five of UPC’s bank customers issue VISA PayWave and Mastercard PayPass cards. In October 2012, PrivatBank also launched contactless cards as NFC stickers. In 2024, the number of contactless payment cards increased by 14.4% to 35 million cards from 30.6 million in 2023. In general, about half (59.5%) of payment cards used in 2024 for debit transactions were contactless cards. In 2016, Oschadbank launched the first contactless PROSTIR card.

In 2023, the NBU reported that 95.7% of the number and 94.7% of the value of these transactions were carried out using contactless payment technology and NFC technology.

Predefined contactless limits – Contactless payments for purchases below a predefined limit are without PIN or signature and transaction receipt. In Ukraine, the contactless limit for payments without PIN/signature is set to UAH 1,000 for cards with the PayPass or payWave function.

Interchange Fee Arrangements

International and Intra European Non-EEA Interchange Fees are set by the members of the international card schemes to be applied in case of cross-border transactions or foreign cards used in Ukraine, respectively. The effective rates of Mastercard and VISA Europe can be found on the respective Mastercard and VISA websites.

Domestic Merchant Interchange Fee (DMIF) for Ukrainian cards is defined by Mastercard and VISA, respectively.

In May 2021, the NBU together with VISA and Mastercard announced that they would gradually reduce domestic interchange rates to promote non-cash payment usage and promote competition.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) along with Visa and Mastercard signed a memorandum to gradually reduce maximum interchange commissions in Ukraine. Under that agreement:

• From 1 July 2021: max interchange ≤ 1.20%
• From 1 July 2022: max interchange ≤ 1.00%
• From 1 July 2023: max interchange ≤ 0.90%

For the domestic Ukrainian card scheme PROSTIR (national payment scheme): from 1 May 2022, interchange for cashless retail and e-commerce transactions using PROSTIR cards is set at 0.30% (lower than the pre-war period) in Ukraine.

From 1 May 2022, the PROSTIR National Payment System resumed charging interchange fees for transactions made by PROSTIR cardholders to pay for goods and services. Starting from 1 May 2022, the interchange fee for such transactions was set at 0.3% (lower than in the pre-war period).  It applies to cashless transactions with PROSTIR cards to pay for goods and services at Ukrainian retailers and in e-commerce.

At the same time, the 0% interchange rate remains in place for transactions related to raising funds through registered charities and social services, and the purchase of war bonds. PROSTIR set the interchange rate for all transactions between 7 March 2022 and 30 April 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

E-Money 

The NBU started regulating operations in e-money. E-money in Ukraine is kept in e-wallets and on prepaid cards. In 2021, there were 14 e-money issuers licensed by the NBU. No update was provided for 2022 and 2023.

According to a decree from the NBU dated 13 February 2016, Ukrainian citizens were permitted to receive e-money in foreign currency, issued by non-resident remitters, from non-residents of Ukraine, provided that the international internet payment systems provide a repayment of electronic money by transferring funds to an individual’s account in the resident banks. This decree opened the way for citizens of other countries to transfer e-money to accounts in Ukrainian banks.

From 2016, Ukrainians could make payments through PayPal using their credit cards issued in Ukraine but couldn’t receive payments through the system. As of 2021, PayPal had still not been fully licensed in Ukraine but in 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, PayPal announced it would allow payments to and from Ukraine.

In 2021, the volume of transactions with e-money decreased by UAH 9,141 million (15%), from UAH 19,730 million in 2020 to UAH 10,163 million in 2021. The number of e-wallets decreased by 56 million, from 79 million in 2020 to 23 million in 2021. At the same time, e-money issuance decreased by almost UAH 22.7 million, from UAH 60 million in 2020 to UAH 37.3 million. This was caused by several big market players leaving the market in 2021, caused by setting the requirements for the issuers to properly inspect e-money users in the context of their compliance with the Law of Ukraine On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Terrorism Financing, and Financing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the NBU regulations adopted in compliance with the requirements of the Law. No update was provided for 2022.

In 2022, under martial law, the System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine (the “SEP”) operated efficiently and reliably, ensuring high levels of security for interbank settlements in the domestic currency. In 2022, the NBU’s SEP handled over 98% of all hryvnia-denominated interbank settlements within Ukraine. In particular, 362.7 million payments worth UAH 133.46 trillion were processed via the system. On average in 2022, SEP processed approximately 1.4 million payments daily worth a total of nearly UAH 515 billion. 96% of all payments in 2022 were delivered to SEP by Ukrainian banks and their branches.

No update was given for e-money transactions in 2023 and 2024.

Account-based Payment Services 

In the Yearbooks, account-based payment services are classified as bank payment services on bank accounts offered by banks or by independent payment initiation service providers (PISP).

Credit transfers are used for both high-value corporate and low-value retail payment transactions. They can be paper-based or automated. Electronic credit transfers are used by companies for salary and supplier payments. Paper-based credit transfers are commonly used for non-recurring retail payments.

Direct debits are available in Ukraine and used for low-value recurring payments such as utility bills. Usage is low.

As in many European countries, bank transfers have been adopted for online payments, enabling consumers to pay directly from their bank account as an alternative service to payment cards.

Advanced Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, advanced payment services are classified as online wallets, e-wallets, and/or mobile wallets with any type of payment service chosen by the wallet user to complete the payment.

In Ukrainian online shops, the wallets PayPal, iPay, and EasyPay are offered as payment means. In 2018, WebMoney was prohibited from operating in Ukraine as part of measures taken against companies from Russia, followed by prohibitions against Yandex, Money, Qiwi, and Wallet One in 2021.

PayPal – PayPal officially expanded its services to Ukraine in March 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion. The move was coordinated with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to support humanitarian and economic resilience. As of end-2024, PayPal reported 434 million active customer accounts globally, up 2.1% from 426 million in 2023. This consisted of 398 million customer active accounts and 36 million merchant active accounts across approximately 200 markets. PayPal’s total payment volume increased to $1.68 trillion (up from $1.53 in 2023) and customer engagement grew to an average of 60.6 transactions per active account, driving 3% growth in transactions per active account at the end of 2024.

During 2020, with consumers worldwide embracing digital wallet capabilities, the company launched several related services including QR Code Checkout, Buy Now Pay Later, Crypto purchasing, and Xoom direct transfers to bank accounts and debit cards.

In June 2018, PayPal continued its shopping spree with a $400 million cash deal to acquire e-commerce platform Hyperwallet. The acquisition followed deals to buy Venmo, Xoom, Sweden’s iZettle (renamed Zettle) for $2.2 billion, and AI-based merchant marketing outfit Jetlore, as Paypal bids to extend its reach to all corners of the payments market.

In May 2022, PayPal Ventures invested in Modulr, an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, as part of a $108 million Series C funding round led by General Atlantic, Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, and Highland Europe. Modulr delivers payment infrastructure for over 200 top-tier customers, including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage, and BrightPay, and processes an annualized transaction value of more than £100 billion.

In 2023, PayPal is exploring the sale of Xoom, its international money transfer subsidiary, in a bid to cut costs and focus on high-growth business areas. Also, Stax Payments – an all-in-one payment provider for businesses – announced its partnership with PayPal in July 2023. This partnership will allow PayPal’s users to easily make payments with more than 20,000 merchants of Stax through a fast checkout process as well as new payment options such as Buy-now-pay-later solutions.

In 2023, PayPal launched its own US dollar-denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), which is fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US treasuries, and similar cash equivalents and designed for digital payments and Web3. Eligible US PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to transfer the token to external wallets, send person-to-person payments, fund purchases at checkouts supported by PayPal, and convert cryptocurrency holdings to and from PayPal USD.

In January 2024, PayPal launched AI-powered features to drive personalised offerings for both merchants and customers based on the data it possesses. These features include Smart Receipts (for merchants) which predicts what shoppers may want to buy next from the merchant. The merchant can then offer personalised recommendations, and cashback offers on this receipt. A major feature for users is CashPass which will use give users personalized cashback offers based on an AI analysis of their spending activity.

In March 2024, PayPal launched a complete suite of payment processing tools for online small businesses in the UK, Canada, and across more than 20 European markets. The PayPal Complete Payments package enables small businesses to accept an expanded range of payment instruments including PayPal, buy now pay later, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit and debit cards, and alternative payment methods from around the world. By April 2024, PayPal added new features to its complete payments solution for small businesses to enable small businesses to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later products. PayPal also gave small businesses access to four new features to help them drive payment acceptance and enhance how they run their business, and this will include Apple Pay as a checkout option.

In 2025, PayPal significantly enhanced its offerings for small businesses by introducing PayPal Open, a unified commerce platform that consolidates all of PayPal’s merchant solutions into a single interface. This platform provides small businesses with access to a comprehensive suite of tools, including payment processing, financial services, and AI-driven insights, all designed to streamline operations and foster growth.

Previous legal restrictions over 2021 prevented PayPal’s full operation in Ukraine, but Ukrainian nationals were able to receive payments via PayPal. In March 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, PayPal announced it would allow P2P payments to and from Ukraine.

Digital Account-to-Account Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, digital payment services are classified as card-based payment services using EMV tokenization security on the internet combined with HCE NFC technology in the case of contactless payments at POS terminals.

As of early 2025, Click to Pay has officially launched in Ukraine, following a collaborative project between Sense Bank and Cartsys, implementing the solution from Visa and Mastercard. Supporting this development, Visa issued its new Payment Passkey service in Ukraine as of April 2025. This technology enables biometric authentication (e.g. fingerprint or face ID) for users entering Click to Pay. Click to Pay is a joint service between Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, enabling consumers to make secure one-click payments without having to enter card details or passwords online.

In March 2020, China UnionPay announced that over 150,000 POS terminals in Ukraine supported its contactless payment solution, QuickPass.

Contactless payments on cards using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay (previously Android Pay) made by foreign users at contactless POS terminals in Ukraine are processed as payments on contactless cards.

Global contactless transaction values are projected to reach approximately $15.7 trillion by 2027, up significantly from around $4.6 trillion in 2022, driven by widespread adoption of contactless mobile and card payments. Contactless mobile and wearable payments are expected to grow by over 220%, while contactless card payments will increase by approximately 119% in the same period.

Contactless ticketing spend is forecasted to surge by more than 400% globally between 2022 and 2027, with mobile NFC ticketing powered by OEM wallet solutions such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay playing a critical role in enabling seamless transit and event ticketing across multiple markets.

By 2027, 99% of all smartphones are estimated to support contactless payments, up from 94% in 2022, with average contactless transaction values roughly $28.20 for Apple Pay and $33.40 for Google Pay. Digital wallets—including PayPal, Apple Pay, and Alipay—represent the majority of global mobile payments. Mobile wallets accounted for around half of global e-commerce payment transactions as of 2022 with approximately 2.8 billion users worldwide, nearly half concentrated in Asia-Pacific, led by large markets such as China, India, and Southeast Asia.

In North America and Europe, mobile payments increasingly overlap with broader “alternative payments” encompassing all non-cash, non-card payment methods, reflecting shifting consumer preferences towards convenience and digital-first financial experiences.

Overall, the global contactless payment market is witnessing rapid growth driven by technology advances, expanding wallet usage, and evolving consumer behaviours, signalling a transformative shift towards universal cashless and contactless commerce by the end of the decade.

Apple Pay has become one of the world’s most used digital payment methods. Its user base increased from 521.4 million to 535.8 million in 2022 and now sits at 785 million users worldwide at end 2024.

This payment method is also available in over 85% of US merchants and 60% of stores globally.

As of August 2024, the estimated total Apple Pay in-store sales now sit at $268 billion, up from $213 billion last year.

As of 2023, Apple Pay processed 14.2% of all online consumer payments and 5.6% of all in-store purchases globally, global transaction volume (2025 estimate) is $7.6 trillion.

In the US its Apple Pay users are measured as ~ 63.9 million (2025 forecast), with in-store U.S. retail sales via Apple Pay sitting at ~ $268 billion (as of August 2024).

Putting it all together, Apple Pay is increasingly becoming an effective customer acquisition and retention feature for Apple. In June 2022, Apple Pay added Apple Pay Later, its buy-now-pay-later service, allowing users to split purchases into four equal instalments with no interest or fees. Initially launched in the US, the service is expected to roll out to other countries during 2023. In 2023, Apple launched its Card savings account from Goldman Sachs with a 4.15% annual percentage yield. Apple Wallet users can set up and manage a savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.

Apple Pay is available in Ukraine through 51 banks and payment providers as of mid-2025.

Google Pay current data shows around 820 million active users across 45 global markets.

In January 2022, it was reported that the company was planning to transform Google Pay into a “comprehensive digital wallet”, following the app’s reported slow growth and the shutdown of Plex. In April, it was reported that Google was planning to revive the “Google Wallet” branding in a new app or interface and integrated with Google Pay. Google officially announced Google Wallet on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. The app began rolling out on Android smartphones on July 18, replacing the 2018 app and co-existing with the 2020 Google Pay app in the US. While the app name itself was changed from Google Pay to Google Wallet, the service name of actually paying for things online or in-store remains “Google Pay.”.

In the US, Google Pay has over 165 million users.  Also, Google Pay is used on nearly 800,000 websites as a secure payment gateway. Roughly 20% of all mobile purchases are made using this digital payment processor. Google Pay ranks 3rd among mobile payment methods globally. In Russia, it has an online usage distribution of 35.18% and has recorded approximately 1,281,838 transactions online. Available in 19 countries, 30% of Google Pay’s active users are millennials. It is one of Canada’s top 5 online payment apps and is the primary mobile payment method for 2,193 businesses worldwide. In India, Google Pay boasts 67 million active users and holds 36.10% of the mobile application market. Its widespread adoption and significant market share highlight its growing importance in the global digital payment landscape.

By mid-2024, 56 banks and payment providers offered Google Pay in Ukraine.

Samsung Pay is available in 29 countries worldwide and has an estimated 150 million users. Samsung Pay works with a broad range of Samsung Galaxy phones, including the latest Galaxy S22 and newer models, as well as many previous models like the Galaxy S8.

Samsung claims that its system will work with almost all point-of-sale systems: NFC, magnetic stripe and EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) terminals for chip-based cards. In June 2022, Samsung Pay was renamed to Samsung Wallet in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Along with the renaming came new features such as the ability to store digital assets and digital keys within the Wallet app.

By mid-2024, Samsung Pay was not yet available in Ukraine.

Garmin Pay is also offered by more than 25 Ukrainian banks, including Alfa Bank and Credit Agricole Ukraine.

Overview of Cashless Payments

The use of payment cards in Ukraine has increased significantly over recent years. Usage is largely concentrated in Ukraine’s larger cities. Salaries are increasingly paid via debit card.

However, Ukraine remains a cash-dominated society, and most utility bills are paid in cash. The most popular cashless payment instrument is the credit transfer.

Cheques are not a commonly used payment instrument in Ukraine. They are typically used for medium to high-value commercial payments and are bilaterally cleared between banks.

In 2021, the volume of payment card transactions increased (both cashless payments and cash withdrawals). The total number of transactions involving payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks was 7,817.1 million, for a value of UAH 5,091.7 billion, representing a growth of 30.3% and 28.7% respectively from 2020). The networks of other resident acquirers serviced 43.3% of card transactions in volume and comprised 22.8% in value. Outside Ukraine, transactions with cards issued by resident banks remained as low as 3.8% in number and 3.7% in value. At the same time, the share of domestic transactions with cards issued by non-resident banks comprised 2.3% in both number and value.

In 2024, the volume of payment card transactions increased (both cashless payments and cash withdrawals). The total number of transactions involving payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks was 8,654.5 million, for a value of UAH 6,577.4 billion, representing a growth of 9.4% and 7.1% respectively from 2023. Outside of Ukraine, the volume of transactions using payment cards issued by Ukrainian issuers in 2024 accounted for 8.2% of the total number of payment card transactions, and 9.9% of their total value. At the same time, the volume of transactions with payment cards issued by non-resident banks within Ukraine was insignificant, accounting for 0.8% of the total number and 1.0% of the total value of all such transactions.

In 2021, the number of cashless transactions with payment cards increased in annual terms by 35.1% to 7,039.9 million (90.1% of the total number of transactions), and their value by 40.3% to UAH 3,099.1 billion (60.9% of the total value of card transactions).

In 2024, the number of cashless transactions using payment cards, both within Ukraine and abroad, reached 8.1848 billion (94.6% of the total number), with a total value of UAH 4.2435 trillion (64.5% of the total value of all payment card transactions).

At the same time, in 2021, the number of cash withdrawals with payment cards decreased by 1.1% from 2020, whereas their value increased by 14.0%. More than half of cashless payment card transactions (52.4%) were performed in retail networks, and their value comprised 28.4% of the value of all cashless transactions. In 2021, 43.6% of the value of cashless payment card transactions were card-to-card transfers and accounted for 12.7%.

In 2024, payment card withdrawals accounted for 469.6 million (5.4% of total number) in number and UAH 2.334 trillion (35.5% of total payment card transactions) in value. Over 70% of the cashless payment card transactions were conducted in retail networks, accounting for 46.8% of the total value of cashless transactions. Correspondingly, 95.7% of the number and 94.7% of the value of these transactions were carried out using contactless payment technology and NFC technology. Transfers from card to card accounted for one-third (31.1%) of the total value of cashless payment card transactions, while their number constituted 8.2% of the total.

Over 2021, the NBU continued working on the ‘Draft Vision for an Instant Payment System’, supported by the EU Twinning Project, under the auspices of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the World Bank.

By creating a system of instant payments in Ukraine, the NBU primarily aims to enable Ukraine’s citizens to make quick, affordable, and secure account-to-account transfers using several access channels and payment initiation methods. According to the NBU, instant payments will further develop the payment infrastructure, enhance competition in the payments market, meet the expectations of the market and customers, improve financial literacy, and promote cashless payments.

In April 2021, the NBU presented its vision for an instant payment system in Ukraine to financial market participants. The results of these meetings laid the groundwork for drafting a Vision for an Instant Payment System in Ukraine, which was published in October 2021 for public discussion. To date, the NBU has received feedback from financial market participants on the Draft Vision for an Instant Payment System, and it is continuing to work on identifying the technological specifics and functionalities of the system: unique account identifiers, ways to exchange payment details between payers and payees (through QR code, Request-to-Pay, etc.).

In 2022, the NBU continued to work to introduce instant payments in Ukraine by updating the concept of Instant Payments. This was done by considering the processing of technological issues, Ukraine’s acquisition of EU candidacy status, the country’s progress towards EU accession, and consumers’ wartime needs. For citizens to be able to make fast, cheap payments round-the-clock, the NBU broke down the implementation of instant payments in Ukraine into two stages. First is the implementation of the capability to meet people’s needs to make transfers and payments. The second stage is the introduction of the full functionality (all types of payments, additional services, and payment transaction schemes).

In addition, throughout 2022, the NBU continued to cooperate with European experts in this area within the framework of the European Union Twinning Project Strengthening the NBU’s Institutional and Regulatory Capacity to Implement the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. In 2023, the NBU finished creating an instant payment model in Ukraine, in particular through cooperation with European experts within the framework of the European Union Twinning Project, Strengthening the NBU’s Institutional and Regulatory Capacity to Implement the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

In 2022, the NBU also worked to implement instant payments in the next version of the NBU’s next-generation electronic payment system (SEP 4) based on the international standard ISO 20022 under the SEPA instant credit transfer scheme (SCT Inst). Introducing the new generation of SEP in April 2023, which operates based on the ISO 20022 international standard and is available for interbank payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, became the foundation for further work on the development of instant payments. Importantly, a stand (SEP 4.1.) was set up for SEP participants in October 2023, where they were able to start testing instant payments in the system.

As of December 2024, the latest version of the System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine – SЕP 4.1, which provides for instant transfers was launched in Ukraine. As of December 31, 2024, there were 15 direct participants in the SEP instant transfers system, including, in particular, the National Bank, “Oschadbank” (with 24 branches), CB “PrivatBank” (with eight branches), “UKRSIBBANK,” and “Ukreximbank.” During the first month of operation, 11,487 instant transfers were successfully completed for a total amount of UAH 124.8 million.

Exchange Rates

The currency of the Ukraine is the hryvnia (UAH). Though the hryvnia has been relatively stable for extended periods, it has suffered occasional devaluations. After the 2008 credit crunch, its value fell from UAH 5: $1 to UAH 8: $1.

The hryvnia remained near this level until end-2013. Then the devaluation of the hryvnia continued. Its value fell from UAH 15.0: $1 in 2014 to UAH 40.15: $1 in 2024.

3 - Average Exchange Rates
Hryvnya	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1 UAH in EUR	30.7878	32.3100	33.9820	39.5582	43.4504
1 UAH in USD	26.9575	27.2900	32.3423	36.5738	40.1521
Source: NBU.

Market Infrastructure

In 2021, 53 payment systems, 37 money transfer systems, and 34 payment service providers were operating in Ukraine, along with 70 non-bank institutions licensed to make funds transfers without opening accounts. Of the 53 payment systems, 29 were established by residents; eight systems were operated by banks (one domestic system and seven international systems); 21 systems were operated by NBFIs; (14 domestic systems and seven international systems) 15 systems were established by non-residents: six international card payment systems; nine international money transfer systems; four intrabank payment systems; and two state-operated payment systems.

In 2024, 24 fund transfer systems operated in Ukraine, including 15 established by residents and nine by non-residents. Domestic fund transfers were provided by five systems established by banks and 10 systems set up by nonbank institutions. On the other hand, cross-border funds transfer services in Ukraine were provided by nine funds transfer systems established by non-residents (including four systems from the United States, three from the United Kingdom, one from Georgia and one from Canada).

In 2021, the NBU’s efforts, which were focused on the implementation of PSD2 and renewing the legal regulation of the payment services market, with the adoption of Law of Ukraine No. 1591-ІХ, dated 30 June 2021, On Payment Services. The Law will help transform the payment market and increase the number of its participants. The main provisions of the Law take effect on 1 August 2022. As of 2023, the Law of Ukraine On Payment Services is in effect in Ukraine. It implements European Payment Directive PSD2, which includes Open Banking. According to this law, Open Banking should start operating in Ukraine on 1 August 2025, and account servicing payment services providers will have to open their APIs to nonfinancial payment service providers.

In November 2024, amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Payment Services came into effect, defining the general principles for performing instant credit transfers. They implement in Ukraine the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2024/886 of the European Parliament and of the Council [amending Regulation (EU) No. 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directive 98/26/ EC and Directive (EU) 2015/2366 with regard to establishing specific requirements for instant credit transfers in euros, in addition to the general requirements applicable to all credit transfers, which is an important step towards the integration of Ukraine into the EU payment area].

In 2024, payment market participants continued to bring their activities into line with the Law of Ukraine On Payment Services, taking into account the possibility of expanding their activities by providing more financial payment services.

The Law of Ukraine On Payment Services defines nine types of payment service providers. In addition to banks, they include payment institutions, postal operators, e-money institutions, branches of foreign payment institutions, central government bodies, and local governments. The Law of Ukraine On Payment Services also allows those non-bank financial institutions that have obtained the relevant authorization from the regulator to open payment accounts for crediting cash to customers’ accounts, cash withdrawals, and the execution of payment transactions with customers’ funds. In addition, new types of participants will enter the market – account information and payment initiation service providers. Approaches to payment instruments and transactions will be revised, and the number of payment services will be increased to nine (of which seven are financial payment services and two, non-financial).

The Law of Ukraine On Payment Services provides the basis for a comprehensive renewal of the Ukrainian payments landscape, and the integration of Ukrainian payment market with the European one, while creating a powerful incentive for the development of the FinTech market. The NBU is working on the implementation of Open Banking in Ukraine, and the creation of a regulatory sandbox at the NBU, opening up many new opportunities for financial services users. The Law of Ukraine On Payment Services provides for the establishment of Open Banking in 2025. The major benefit of the new payment market regulation is that FinTech companies will be able to build mutually beneficial cooperation with banks and receive more opportunities for business development. This will give rise to new payment start-ups and encourage healthy competition in the payment market.

The NBU System of Electronic Payments (SEP) is systemically important in Ukraine. The banks prefer making interbank transfers in the UAH currency through the SEP to direct payments to correspondent bank accounts. The SEP ensures 96% of interbank transfers in UAH currency inside Ukraine.

To comply with the Law of Ukraine On Payment Services, the NBU Board approved several regulations that set the authorisation procedure for providers of financial payment services and limited payment services, updated the procedure for registering payment systems, payment system participants, and technical service providers, and regulated rendering financial payment services with the participation of commercial agents.

As of 2024, 62 Ukrainian banks, the State Treasury Service, and the NBU were participants in the SEP. In 2024, 484 million payments worth a total of over UAH 241 trillion were processed through the SEP (including 19 million payments of UAH 56.5 billion under state programs). This is a 14% increase in number and in value from 2023, when compared to 422.8 million payments worth a total of nearly UAH 209.92 trillion in 2023. During the year, there was an upward trend in the number of payments processed by the system. There was also an upward trend in customer demand for using the SEP on weekends during 2024. At the beginning of 2024 the average number of payments on Saturdays and Sundays was about 600,000, while in December it was more than 900,000. It is important to note that 49% of the payments in the SEP are payments made between accounts of bank customers (UAH 236 million of payments). On an average in 2024, SEP processed daily approximately 1.32 million payments worth a total of nearly UAH 658 billion. At the same time, the system is capable of processing almost 10 times the current level of payments per day.

The average ratio of funds turnover was 6.6x (the ratio of cash circulation over the year grew by 3.88 percentage points). In 2024, as is usual, the vast majority (96%) of all payments were delivered to SEP by Ukrainian banks and their branches.

The NBU continues to modernize the SEP by introducing the ISO 20022 international standard and switching the system to a 24/7 mode, ensuring there is an immediate transition from one business day to the next business day without the suspension of interbank payment transaction processing by the SEP.

Under Ukraine’s Payment Infrastructure Development Based on the ISO 20022 Standard project, the NBU has completed preparation works to implement the NBU’s new-generation system of electronic payments (SEP 4.0) based on ISO 20022 international standard to be operated in 24/7 mode.

Ukrainian Interbank Payment Systems Member Association “EMA”

Ukrainian Interbank Payment Systems Member Association “EMA” was founded in 1999 by Europay-Mastercard member banks but gained its present name in 2004 when membership was broadened to include VISA and local association members.

As of 2024, over 65 organizations were reported to be members or associates, including Mastercard, VISA, UkrKart, American Express, and PROSTIR payment systems members, plus VISA Ukraine, the Ukrainian Processing Center (UPC), ZNAK company (a Kiev-based manufacturer of plastic cards), Euronet Worldwide, major Ukrainian banks, and BNP Paribas Ukraine.

PROSTIR Scheme

As part of reforming the Ukrainian payment market in 2015, the National System of Mass Electronic Payments, NSMEP (see Appendix), was rebranded in May 2016 as ‘PROSTIR Ukrainian Payment Area’ (in Ukrainian language, area is translated as PROSTIR). The following steps were taken as an inherent part of a contemporary national payment system (NPS):

• E-commerce transactions and the opportunity to make contactless payments were introduced
• Putting into industrial operation contactless payment technology, mobile payments and cloud technologies
• No need for technical modernisation of terminal network for acceptance of PROSTIR cards
• Co-operation of PROSTIR with international payment schemes
• Low number of fee-based services and lower average weighted cost compared to international schemes
• A simplified procedure of e-money issuance for member banks of the PROSTIR system

In 2016, seven new banks and two independent processing centres joined the national payment system, PROSTIR. A large number of projects were implemented, including: contactless payments and intrabank card-to-card transfers using PROSTIR cards issued by Oshchadbank, the issue of electronic IDs for internally displaced persons (IDPs) based on PROSTIR cards with NFC capability, and updated and simplified usage rates.

As of 2024, PROSTIR had 49 participants. 38 PROSTIR participants are connected to the Central Router and Settlement and Clearing Center. Other participants include the State Tax Service of Ukraine, the Deposit Guarantee Fund, UkrKart, which services mainly smaller regional banks, and USEP Ukrposhta, the national postal operator, which joined NSMEP in 2006.

In 2020, PROSTIR worked to expand acceptance and usage through e-wallets, implement 3-D Secure 2.1 online payment protection, and develop instant payments. In 2021, PROSTIR expanded the possibilities for card-to-card transfers, carried out by payment service providers Рortmone, Easypay, Ipay, and Platon.

In 2022, the NBU enabled P2P transfers using PROSTIR cards in CB PrivatBank JSC, TASKOMBANK JSC, Pivdennyi JSB, IBOX BANK JSC, and A-BANK JSC. In 2023, UNIVERSAL BANK JSC joined PROSTIR NPS. At the same time, four other banks (namely, FORWARD BANK JSC, IBOX BANK JSC, JSB CONCORD JSC, and UKRBUDINVESTBANK JSC) stopped being PROSTIR participants. ALLIANCE PAYMENT SERVICES LLC was granted permission to start operating in the system as an independent processing center. In 2024, four banks were awarded the status of issuer and/or acquirer: Universalbank, Cristalbank, Cominvestbank, and Credit Agricole Bank. At the same time, three banks ceased their participation. Alpari Bank and Portal Bank on account of ceasing banking activity. Creditwest Bank according to the bank’s decision to cease card operations.

In 2024, the regulator worked on extending the infrastructure for PROSTIR payment card acceptance. Payments using PROSTIR cards were accepted in more than 508,000 retail POS terminals in Ukraine, accounting for nearly 100% of the total number of POS terminals in Ukraine. This became possible due to joining the POS network of UkrSibbank. It was also supported by the provision of technical capacity that enabled the customers to use a smartphone/tablet with NFC based on Android as a POS terminal for PROSTIR payment cards (where the acquirers are Raiffeisen Bank and PrivatBank), and the setting of devices (validators) for paying fares in public transport in Kyiv. Also, 95% of all electronic commerce merchants accepted PROSTIR cards for payments. As of the end of 2024, 15,000 ATMs serviced PROSTIR NPS payment cards (94% of all ATMs in Ukraine).

Furthermore, in 2021, the ATM cash replenishment network in the PROSTIR NPS expanded. PROSTIR cards could be replenished through IBOX and Sistema self-service payment devices, the networks of the partner bank of the MONEGO money transfer system, and the POS terminals of UKRPOSHTA JSC.

Also, at the end of 2021, the PROSTIR NPS, along with the banks that had started to issue PROSTIR cards for new products, launched a joint initiative to promote non-cash transactions among cardholders.

One of the priorities in the PROSTIR NPS development is to enhance the security of online transactions. In 2021, the NBU completed the technical implementation to support 3-D Secure 2.2.0 technology (EMV 3-D Secure), had it certified by the international organization EMVCo, and developed technical documentation to connect the PROSTIR NPS participants and processing centres. In 2022, the NBU introduced a security technology for protecting online transactions using PROSTIR payment cards that are based on EMV 3-D Secure 2.2 protocol – PROSTIR e-Secure. This system verifies a cardholder who is making a transaction. PrivatBank JSC became the first bank to successfully implement this technology. In 2023, PROSTIR NPS, together with banks and processing centres, actively connected participants to PROSTIR e-Secure. In 2024, TASCOMBANK, A-BANK, and NovaPay LLC set the PROSTIR e-Secure technology for protecting e-commerce transactions for the merchants that receive their online acquiring services. Cristalbank conducted strong authentication of own PROSTIR payment card holders using e-Secure technology for transactions without the physical presence of said payment cards online.

NBU claimed that PROSTIR cards in circulation were around 455,000 cards at the end of 2024, of which 205,000 (or 45.1%) were active. In 2021, there were 12.2 million transactions on PROSTIR cards (2020: 11.2 million) with a total value of UAH 29.9 billion (2020: 29.6 billion). In comparison, the predecessor system, NSMEP, had its peak in 2013 with 18 million transactions with a total value of UAH 32.6 billion. The ATV per PROSTIR transaction accounted for UAH 2,644.1 or $89.81 equivalent.

In 2024, PROSTIR payment cards holders made cashless transactions more often, as evidenced by an increase in their share, to 80% of the total number of PROSTIR transactions in 2024 (in contrast to 78% in 2023). Also, cashless payment transaction increased in value per one active payment card by 19% (from UAH 6,361 to UAH 7,592).

The number of interbank transactions processed by the Central Router of the PROSTIR NPS in 2023 was 3,377,000, up by 12% from the previous year. These transactions were worth a total of UAH 3.015 billion, a 63% increase from 2021. These volumes and numbers of transactions contributed to the expansion of the PROSTIR card network, and as a result, the more frequent use of these cards for daily payments by cardholders.

4 - Domestic Scheme PROSTIR Operations
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24
Member banks	54	56	54	51	49	-3.92%
Cards issued (000s)	600.0	581.0	544.0	460.0	455.0	-1.09%
ATMs and POS terminals	339,100	581,000	581,000	458,000	523,000	14.19%
Transactions with cards (m)	11.2	12.2	12.2	12.8	12.8	0.00%
Value of transactions (UAH bn)	29.6	29.9	29.9	31.0	31.0	0.00%
ATV per transaction (UAH)	2,644.1	2,450.8	2,450.8	2,431.4	2,431.4	0.00%
Note: In May 2016, the NSMEP was rebranded as 'PROSTIR' (Ukrainian Payment Area).
Note: the PROSTIR figures for 2022 may be incomplete due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

In 2023, the amount of interbank transactions processed by the Central Router of PROSTIR NPS amounted to UAH 3,377 million (an increase of 12% compared to 2022). This was facilitated by an increase in the issuance of PROSTIR NPS payment cards by banks to new segments of customers (who have larger volumes of receipts in their accounts and actively use payment cards), as well as the expansion of the network of acceptance of PROSTIR NPS payment card

UkrKart

The UkrKart domestic scheme is backed by Oschadbank and brings together 16 participating banks, mainly smaller specialist and regional entities. In 2021, over 2.5 million cards had been issued (end-2011: 1.2 million) and the acceptance network comprised 1,000 ATMs and 2,000 POS terminals, unchanged from the previous years.

UkrKart’s infrastructure includes a processing centre, settlement and clearing house, acquiring function, and card production and personalisation. UkrKart has MSP (Member Service Provider) status with Mastercard and TPP (Third Party Processor) status with VISA. In addition, UkrKart is the issuer processor and acquirer processor for PROSTIR cards through NBU’s central router.

The two UkrKart card products supported are ‘UkrKart Standard,’ a PIN-only card usable in UkrKart’s network, and ‘UkrKart-Maestro,’ a co-branded Maestro and UkrKart card. Control your own funds with the mobile application “UKRCARD”

In February 2019, the UkrKart mobile app became available on Google Pay, with 10 banks allowing UkrKart cardholders to use the app.

BankID Project

The NBU’s single national system for online identification of individuals and enterprises is BankID. The BankID system enables banking clients to use bank cards for identification and to access state registers.  In 2024, 21 new subscribers joined the system as service providers. As of the end of 2024, the NBU BankID System subscribers included 39 identifying subscribers (Ukrainian banks) and 110 subscribed service providers, of which 96 are commercial and 14 non-commercial.

As of 2023, 99.9% of bank customers who are payment card holders that now have access to the NBU BankID System.  When opening a bank account remotely, citizens need not submit physically an ID card or biometric passport if they have a digital ID card or passport in the mobile app Diia. Each Ukrainian with a biometric document – ID card and passport – can use this method. All that is required is to install the Diia app on a smartphone and verify themselves in order to obtain a digital version of an ID card or passport through the NBU BankID System.

Card Issuers – Overview 

The Ukrainian banks issue credit cards, charge cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards in combination with bank accounts. Addressing the specific needs of personal banking and business banking, the card portfolio is composed of consumer cards, business cards, and corporate cards.

Dedicated card products are offered for the individual client segments: families, millennials, students, affluent clients, small business clients, corporate clients, and even basic account clients. The credit cards offered range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards.

As of the end of 2024, most payment cards were issued in the international payment system Mastercard (67.9 million, or 51.5%). PrivatBank was the top card issuing bank (42.9% of all issued cards). The second and third places in terms of number of issued cards were VISA (50.0 million, or 45.6%) and National Payment System PROSTIR (0.5 million, or 0.5%). In 2022, the share of other card systems operating in Ukraine was 0.04%.

As of 31 December 2023, most payment cards were issued in the international payment system MasterCard (62.6 million, or 54.4%). PrivatBank took the lead in issuing (43.9% of all issued cards)

According to the NBU, 59 banks issued payment cards in Ukraine as at end-2024. They issue debit cards branded Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, or Electron, and delayed debit cards and credit cards branded Mastercard, VISA or UnionPay. Also, domestic PROSTIR cards and UkrKarts are issued. In late 2018, JCB announced that it had submitted all necessary documentation to the NBU to allow it to issue cards in partnership with Ukrainian banks. In November 2019, JCB and PrivatBank signed an agreement to develop JCB card acceptance and merchant acquiring in Ukraine in early 2020. JCB cardholders will be able to make purchases and get cash advances at ATMs of PrivatBank throughout Ukraine.

UnionPay received approval to issue cards in Ukraine from the NBU on November 13, 2018, and partnered with PrivatBank to enable issuance and merchant and ATM acceptance. As of March 2020, UnionPay card acceptance in Ukraine grew to 60%. So far, UnionPay card is accepted at about 200,000 merchants and 7,000 ATM terminals in Ukraine, and over 150,000 POS terminals are supporting UnionPay’s contactless payment solution, QuickPass.

At the end of 2020, PROSTIR announced the launch of the co-branded PROSTIR/UnionPay card, in conjunction with UkrGazBank as the issuer. Also, in 2020, two banks more started to issue PROSTIR NPS cards: Bank for Investments & Savings and Trust Capital Bank.

In 2024, the leaders in the issuance of cards were PrivatBank (42.9% of all issued cards), Universal Bank (17.6%), and Oschadbank (13.4%).

In 2024, 10 banks had portfolios of over 1 million active cards, and the share of the top 10 issuer banks amounted to 95.6% of the total active cards.

Table 5 illustrates the card brands issued by the Ukrainian banks as of mid-2025.

5 - Leading Card Issuers in Ukraine
Domestic Issuers	Issued Card Brands	Owned by
PrivatBank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, PROSTIR	2017: State: 100%
Oshadbank	Mastercard, VISA; UkrKart, PROSTIR	State: 100%
Raiffeisen Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	Raiffeisen RBI Group (A): 68.21%, EBRD: 30% ; Others; 1.79%
UkrSibBank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard	BNP Paribas (F): 60%, EBRD: 40%
Sense Bank (Previously Alfa Bank)	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, PROSTIR	State: 100%
First Ukrainian Int. Bank (FUIB)	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard	SCM Finance (UA): 92.3%; SCM Holdings (CY)(7.7%)
UkrGazBank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	State: 95%
UkrEximBank	Mastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard	State: 100%
other banks	Mastercard, VISA; Electron	other bank owners
Note: many Ukrainian banks issue domestic cards branded PROSTIR, UkrKart, or individual salary cards.
Source: PCM research

6 - Cards Issued by Banks end-2024
(000s)	Active Cards	Cards Issued	Active %
PrivatBank	31,522.7	56,681.2	55.6%
Universal Bank	9,774.3	23,238.0	42.1%
Oschadbank	7,776.9	17,723.5	43.9%
Raiffeisen Bank	2,365.2	6,153.8	38.4%
A-Bank	1,788.2	8,708.0	20.5%
First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB)	1,369.5	6,230.4	22.0%
UkrSibBank	893.2	1,989.2	44.9%
Sense Bank (Previously Alfa Bank)	582.3	2,549.8	22.8%
UkrGazBank	502.9	1,826.1	27.5%
OTP Bank	407.4	1,142.2	35.7%
UkrEximBank	162.2	362.0	44.8%
Other banks	1,605.5	5,436.4	29.5%
Total	58,750.2	132,040.6	44.5%
market share top 10	53.7%	95.6%	na
Note: active cards are defined as those used at least once in a 3-month period.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

High net worth individuals, defined as those with deposits from $100,000 to $300,000 from a demonstrable source, are a target for Ukrainian banks. UkrSibBank, PrivatBank, Alfa Bank, OTP and Raiffeisen Bank Aval are the most active in this sector, but some smaller banks are pitching for niche HNW business.

With distinctive card products, a key to attracting clients, VISA launched programmes in 2012 with several smaller banks, including Kreditprombank. Kreditprombank offers its VISA gold and platinum cardholders a VIP card to obtain discounts at Chic Outlet Shopping Villages.

Outlook – By 2025, Ukrainian card issuers face the following notable challenges:

• Maintaining a robust payment infrastructure amid potential disruptions
• Rollout of online/mobile bank payment services combined with mobile apps
• Implementation of 3D-Secure 2.3; launch of digital wallets, in-app payments, in-store payments
• Competition from card-less payment service providers: PISPs, AISPs, FinTechs
• Tokenisation security combined with HCE NFC and card credentials stored-on-file
• Open Banking ecosystem and demanded access to card accounts (XS2A)

Card Processors and PSPs

In Europe, the payment processing industry is composed of card processors, ATM/POS network hub processors, e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs), and specialised processors (e.g. CSM processors, TSM services).

In Ukraine, card issuer processing services range from technical issuer processing, including card printing, to full cardholder processing services. They include all types of cards and card technologies allowing for card use at multiple channels (i.e. at ATMs, POS terminals, on the internet and in-store – mobile payments in the future).

Acquirer processing services in the country range from technical acquirer processing, including POS terminal services, to full merchant processing services.

Leading card processors – the card processing market in Ukraine is relatively mature and includes a mix of independent processing centres and bank-owned in-house platforms.

The leading third-party processors are the Ukrainian Processing Centre (UPC), the PROSTIR Processing Centre, and the UkrKart Processing Centre.

• UPC, founded in 1997 and owned by Raiffeisen Bank International, provides transaction processing, card personalisation, fraud monitoring, and 3-D Secure services for Visa, Mastercard, and PROSTIR cards.
• The PROSTIR Processing Centre supports Ukraine’s national payment scheme, handling authorisation, clearing, and settlement of domestic card and e-money transactions.
• UkrKart operates as a cooperative payment association and processing network for smaller and mid-sized Ukrainian banks, offering switching, clearing, and 3-D Secure services.

In parallel, several major Ukrainian banks maintain in-house processing systems to retain greater control over card issuing, transaction authorisation, and digital-wallet integration. These include:

• PrivatBank, which operates one of the most advanced in-house platforms in the region, supporting its extensive card portfolio and digital ecosystem (including Privat24).
• Oschadbank, UkrEximBank, PromInvestBank, and UkrSotsBank, all of which manage their own issuing and acquiring infrastructure.

Ukrainian Processing Center (UPC) – Formed in April 1997 and originally owned by the major banks, Ukraine Processing Center is the biggest card processing company in the Ukraine. In August 2005, UPC was purchased by Raiffeisen International (A) for an undisclosed sum, immediately after finalisation of Raiffeisen’s purchase of Aval Bank. It claims a 40% share of the Ukrainian payment cards market. UPC has MSP status with Mastercard and TPP status with VISA, as well as an agreement with American Express to support its cards.

UPC’s client base in 2024 consisted of 34 issuing customers in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Eastern European clients include the operations of Raiffeisen International in Albania, Croatia, and Hungary, along with Hobex, an Austrian acquirer.

UPC provides card processing services, e-commerce solutions, and card-to-card money transfers, support for global digital wallets, and secure online payments using 3D-Secure.

In 2024, UPC reported a total of 10.4 million cards, 5,200 ATMs, and 114,000 POS terminals under management, while monthly transactions processed were put at 2.09 billion. In September 2024, the UPC announced the launch of Ukraine’s first Open Banking platform which integrates banks and payment service providers into a single technological platform.

Online Payment Service Processors (PSPs) 

Online payment service processors (PSPs) are specialised technical processors for all kind of secure online payments and mobile payments. Some of them also offer virtual PSP platform services (VPSP) for bank acquirers who want to take advantage of a kind of ‘internet network processor’.

Online shops of merchants are directly connected by an API interface or a hosted payment page either to the internet payment gateway of a bank acquirer, or they are connected to multi-acquirers through a PSP.

PSPs usually partner with more than one card acquirer and payment initiation service providers. Core services offered by PSPs may include payment gateways to card acquirers and other online payment service providers, online payment processing, risk management services, and collection services for merchants.

Security technologies applied to ensure secure online card payments include EMV tokenisation and strong 3D-Secure (MCSC, VbV, SafeKey) combined with one-time tokens. For card-less payment services, the security technologies applied include userID/password combined with one-time tokens and online banking access with one-time TAN.

Ukraine’s payment service provider (PSP) market has developed rapidly in recent years, driven by digital commerce growth and evolving regulation under the 2021 Law on Payment Services, which brought national standards closer to the EU’s PSD2 framework.

Resident PSPs operating in Ukraine include:

• Ukrainian Processing Centre (UPC) – also acts as a technical processor and PSP for banks and merchants, supporting Visa, Mastercard, and PROSTIR acceptance.
• Kaznachey – a domestic online payments platform offering API-based integration for e-commerce merchants, enabling card, e-wallet, and bank transfer payments.
• LiqPay – operated by PrivatBank, this is one of the largest and most widely used Ukrainian PSPs, supporting card payments, QR code payments, and integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• iPay.ua – provides online payment acceptance for merchants, bill payments, and person-to-person transfers, with coverage across most major banks.

Before 2022, a number of foreign PSPs, including Yandex.Money and Qiwi (both Russian), were active in Ukraine. However, their operations were prohibited following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, as part of national security and financial-sovereignty measures.

Despite wartime disruption, Ukraine’s PSP sector has remained highly resilient, with strong domestic providers continuing to operate and expand. Some international PSPs, including PayPal, Stripe (indirect access), and Wise, began offering limited cross-border services to Ukrainian users, primarily for international transfers and freelance payments.

Acquiring and Acceptance

In Europe, most acquirers offer multi-channel card acceptance and value-added merchant services at POS terminals, mobile MPOS terminals, and online shops. The leading acquirers usually offer their services cross-border.

In addition, innovative acquirers also offer the acceptance of cardless payment services based on partner agreements with the issuer of those payment services (e.g. account-based payments, wallets, prepaid products).

Most acquirers either operate their own acquirer systems and ATM/POS/MPOS network service hubs, or they use the processing services of external processors. In order to service online merchants in Europe, they might operate their own PSP processing platforms or co-operate with one or more specialised online payment service processors (PSPs).

Since 2012, Eurasian acquirers have competed in their home markets, cross-border in the CIS region, cross-channel at POS terminals and by servicing online merchants. From 2016, innovative acquirers started to offer omni-channel and multi-payment acceptance.

By 2025, omni-channel acceptance includes the ability to service all channels (i.e. POS/MPOS terminals, mobile in-store, online shops, in-app), and to accept multiple payments means in all of these channels. Multi-payment services demanded by merchants include cards, online bank payments, online wallets, digital wallets, and prepaid products.

Outlook – By 2025, Ukrainian acquirers face the following notable challenges:

• The entry of new players and alternative payment solutions
• Rollout of contactless POS/MPOS terminals, Interchange++
• Competition from pan-regional and global acquirers, M&A consolidation
• Complete acquirer service portfolio beyond cards, i.e. acceptance of card-less payment services
• Omni-channel payment acceptance: POS/MPOS, online, mobile in-app, mobile in-store
• Cross-border competition, omni-channel competition, finding PSP partners and PISP partners
• New security standards: e.g. 3D-Secure 2.3, tokenisation security, Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

In 1994, the Ukrainian banks started merchant acquiring with the acceptance of foreign-issued cards. In a second step, the acquirer banks began developing their own POS terminal networks in 1996 when the first domestic cards were issued. In 2024, most of the 59 Ukrainian issuer banks were active acquirers, and 28 of them acquired PROSTIR cards.

They all acquire Mastercard and VISA card brands. Domestic card brands NSMEP and UkrKart are acquired by the participating acquirers, respectively. PrivatBank and a few banks acquired American Express cards. Also, PrivatBank is the UnionPay and JCB acquirer in the country.

Clearing for card transactions is performed through payment schemes, In the Ukraine, settlement banks for card transactions are Citibank Ukraine for VISA cards and UkrEximBank for Mastercard cards.

The leading Ukrainian acquirers are PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Raiffeisen Bank, and Sense Bank. Table 7 illustrates the card brands accepted by the Ukrainian acquirers as of mid-2025.

7 - Leading Acquirers in Ukraine
Domestic Acquirers	Acceptance Brands offered	Owned by
PrivatBank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR, UnionPay	2017: State: 100%
Oshadbank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	State: 100%
Raiffeisen Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	Raiffeisen RBI Group (A): 68.21%, EBRD: 30% ; Others; 1.79%
Sense Bank (formerly Alfa Bank)	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	State: 100%
UkrEximBank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	State: 100%
UkrSibBank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	BNP Paribas (F): 60%, EBRD: 40%
Pivdennyi Bank	Mastercard, VISA; Electron, PROSTIR	Y. Rodin: 53.7%, other investors
other acquirer banks		other bank owners
Note: all Ukrainian acquirers accept UkrKart cards and salary cards at most of their ATMs and POS terminals, respectively.
Source: PCM research

ATM Terminal Infrastructure

Ukrainian ATM infrastructure grew rapidly until 2013, with the number of ATMs increasing by more than 4,000 in 2013 to 40,350, according to NBU. This compares with less than 2,000 ATMs in 2001. Figures from 2014 exclude the ATMs of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. In 2014 and 2015, further declines in ATM numbers came through bank consolidation.

Accepted card brands at Ukrainian ATMs are domestic PROSTIR cards, debit cards (Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, and Electron) and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, JCB, and UnionPay). Accepted card brands at ATMs also include Cirrus, Plus and Pulse. The EMV migration of ATM terminals continued.

From July 2016, Raiffeisen Bank Aval and other leading Ukrainian banks accepted PROSTIR cards at their ATMs. The number of participants engaged in issuance and acquiring in PROSTIR grew to 28 banks in 2024.

Additional ATM services beyond cash withdrawals include dynamic currency conversion (DCC) services, online bill payments, and instant payments for mobile prepaid recharging (top-up).

By system, the international networks dominate, with VISA and Mastercard cards accepted at the great majority of ATMs. In comparison, acceptance of cards issued under the local networks is limited. In 2024, 15,000 ATMs were accepting PROSTIR cards, 51.68% of the 29,024 ATMs in the Ukraine. UkrKart cards are accepted at about 1,200 ATMs.

According to the NBU, there were 29,024 ATMs and self-service kiosks at end-2024, down by 0.40% over 2023. The total includes 15,714 ATMs, 2,754 cash-in ATMs, and 13,310 self-service kiosks. NBU does not provide ATM cash withdrawal statistics.

8 - ATMs in Ukraine
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
ATMs	34,756	33,618	28,279	29,140	29,024	-0.40%	-4.52%
- thereof PROSTIR ATMs	16,500	16,300	15,000	15,000	15,000	0.00%	-2.47%
# ATM Terminals per 1m capita - Ukraine	835.7	816.6	686.9	707.8	705.0	-0.40%	-4.07%
Note: figures from 2014 onwards are excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
Note: the ATM figures for 2022 may be incomplete due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

ATMs by Banks – With 17,278 ATMs and self-service kiosks at end-2024, PrivatBank has by far the largest network, accounting for 59.53% of the national network (see Table 9). PrivatBank’s ATM estate is three times the size of Oschadbank, the next biggest, and its lead has been growing.

In May 2012, state-owned UkrEximBank and UkrSotsBank announced an agreement to share their ATMs. At the time, UkrSotsBank reported 1,100 ATMs and UkrEximBank 720 ATMs; UkrEximBank said that with allowance for existing agreements, its cardholders would have access to over 4,000 ATMs in the Ukraine. A proposed ATM-sharing network between Oschadbank and Sberbank Ukraine was abandoned by mutual agreement in June 2013.

In December 2019, PrivatBank partnered with China UnionPay to enable UnionPay cardholders to use their cards at PrivatBank ATMs. In 2020 PrivatBank began issuance of UnionPay cards.

The Radius ATM network consists of several mid-tier Ukrainian banks with a shared 2,600 ATMs across the country.

9 - ATMs by individual Bank
Bank	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Privatbank	19,696	19,005	16,854	17,323	17,278	-0.26%	-2.83%
Oschadbank	6,342	6,150	5,107	5,178	5,172	-0.12%	-4.43%
Raiffeisen Bank	2,004	2,091	1,503	1,467	1,420	-3.20%	-10.54%
UkrSibBank (BNP Paribas)	1,054	818	697	635	748	17.80%	-6.88%
UkrGazBank	749	760	677	704	653	-7.24%	-1.93%
First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB)	740	750	484	799	718	-10.14%	-0.22%
Sense Bank (previously Alfa-Bank)	722	703	492	441	434	-1.59%	-11.97%
UkrEximBank	539	414	356	367	327	-10.90%	-11.98%
Kredobank	374	367	333	331	325	-1.81%	-2.98%
Credit Agricole Bank	303	305	272	270	269	-0.37%	-2.54%
Sberbank (liquidated in 2022)	170	168				na	na
IndustrialBank	140	131	70	74	72	-2.70%	-14.65%
Pravex Bank	99	100	82	83	82	-1.20%	-6.86%
Bank Pivdennyi	75	57	57	42	124	195.24%	7.59%
Total (top 10)	32,523	31,363	26,775	27,515	27,344	-0.62%	-4.01%
other banks	2,233	2,255	1,504	1,625	1,680	3.38%	-6.72%
Total	34,756	33,618	28,279	29,140	29,024	-0.40%	-4.18%
market share top 10	93.6%	93.3%	94.7%	94.4%	94.2%	-0.22%	0.18%
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Contactless ATMs – In November 2013, PrivatBank enabled customers with smartphones to withdraw cash from ATMs via a QR-code, without needing to insert their card. The contactless ATMs work in conjunction with the bank’s Privat24 Android app, which is linked to the customer’s card and account. To withdraw cash, they tap their NFC phone to the ATM and enter, on their phone, the amount they wish to withdraw along with their PIN.

In June 2016, UkrSotsBank, Alfa-Bank, Mastercard, and Euronet Ukraine implemented contactless ATMs in Lviv.

In July 2019, Raiffeisen Bank Aval enabled its ATMs to accept contactless NFC transactions with Visa PayWave cards or mobile devices. Over 400 ATMs with NFC technology were installed in Raiffeisen Bank Aval, with Mastercard PayPass acceptance planned at a later date.

POS Terminal Infrastructure

Ukrainian acceptance infrastructure has grown rapidly, with POS terminal numbers growing by 36% to 221,222 in 2013. Figures from 2014 excluded the POS terminals of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. In 2014 and 2015, further declines in POS numbers came from bank consolidation.

Accepted card brands at Ukrainian POS terminals are debit cards (PROSTIR, UkrKart, Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, and Electron), and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, and JCB). UnionPay and JCB cards are accepted at selected merchant outlets frequented by tourists. The EMV migration of POS terminals continued.

According to the NBU, in 2024, there were 522,951 POS terminals, up by 11.42% from 2023. In 2024, there were 508,000 POS terminals accepting PROSTIR cards, 97.14% of the total POS terminal estate in the Ukraine. About 92.55% of all POS terminals in Ukraine were contactless enabled as of 2024.

10 - POS Terminals in Ukraine
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Number of merchants	326,941	371,578	316,170	459,665	518,376	12.77%	16.63%
POS terminals	388,958	439,160	368,432	469,371	522,951	11.42%	8.35%
- at banks	13,963	12,623	9,251	19,840	26,334	32.73%	9.97%
- at retail outlets	374,995	426,537	359,181	449,531	496,617	10.47%	8.27%
- thereof contactless POS terminals	325,813	393,556	348,141	445,885	484,012	8.55%	9.89%
- thereof PROSTIR POS terminals	366,000	417,000	358,000	458,000	508,000	10.92%	9.54%
# POS Terminals per 1m capita - Ukraine	9,352.6	10,667.7	8,949.6	11,401.5	12,703.1	11.42%	8.73%
# POS Terminals per 1m capita - EA10 total	17,950.0	19,042.0	21,172.0	23,259.9	23,259.9	0.00%	9.11%
Note: figures from 2014 onwards are excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
Note: the total number of POS terminals for 2022 may be incomplete due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

In June 2017, Ingenico Group (F) acquired the payment activities of its Ukrainian partner Bancomzvjazok (BKC). Through its “SST” (Systems of Secure Transactions) business unit, BKC was a partner and distributor of Ingenico Group in Ukraine since 1997. BKC’s shareholders and Ingenico Group have reached an agreement for the sale of the business unit to Ingenico Group through the acquisition of 100% of the shares of a newly created legal entity.

POS Terminals by Bank – In 2024, PrivatBank had 317,419 units. Oschadbank and Raiffeisen’s Aval, with 82,765 and 33,168, were the next biggest. This dominance did not prevent a further advance in PrivatBank’s share of the national POS network, which rose from 48.5% in 2012 to 60.7% in 2023.

11 - POS Terminals by Individual Bank
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Privatbank	227,008	251,089	222,527	290,160	317,419	9.39%	8.98%
Oschadbank	72,401	82,025	72,360	80,102	82,765	3.32%	6.43%
Raiffeisen Bank	33,932	39,378	27,979	33,594	33,168	-1.27%	1.60%
Sense Bank (2022; previously Alfa Bank)	16,264	18,498	9,086	8,457	9,680	14.46%	-8.38%
UkrSibBank (BNP Paribas)	6,211	8,238	6,748	9,053	9,817	8.44%	14.52%
First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB)	5,370	6,710	5,918	10,038	14,249	41.95%	25.57%
Vostok Bank		7,026	5,086	6,365	7,282	14.41%	na
TASCOMBANK		1,991	1,574	2,577	3,235	25.53%	na
UkrEximBank	2,097	1,910	1,252	1,186	1,036	-12.65%	-18.85%
Ukrgasbank	1,754	1,855	1,518	1,513	1,709	12.95%	-0.26%
Total (top 10)	364,978	412,964	354,048	443,045	480,360	8.42%	8.04%
other	23,980	26,196	14,384	26,326	42,591	61.78%	12.29%
Total	388,958	439,160	368,432	469,371	522,951	11.42%	8.35%
market share top 10	93.8%	94.0%	96.1%	94.4%	91.9%	-2.69%	-0.29%
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

12 - Retail and Bank POS Terminals by Bank
	2020		2021		2022		2023		2024		GR 23/24
	Retail	Bank	Retail	Bank	Retail	Bank	Retail	Bank	Retail	Bank	Retail	Bank
Privatbank	227,008	3,116	251,089	2,221	222,527	1,478	290,160	1,371	317,419	1,341	9.39%	-2.19%
Oschadbank	72,401	3,114	82,025	2,609	72,360	2,969	80,102	2,844	82,765	2,751	3.32%	-3.27%
Raiffeisen Bank	31,378	2,554	39,378	2,309	27,979	2,309	33,594	397	33,168	347	-1.27%	-12.59%
Sense Bank (2022; previously Alfa Bank)	15,854	410	18,498	365	9,086	204	8,457	150	9,680	139	14.46%	-7.33%
UkrSibBank (BNP Paribas)	5,714	497	8,238	719	6,748	687	9,053	760	9,817	268	8.44%	-64.74%
First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB)	4,911	459	6,710	475	5,918	371	10,038	376	14,249	380	41.95%	1.06%
Vostok Bank			7,026	120	5,086	105	6,365	106	7,282	75	14.41%	-29.25%
TASCOMBANK			1,991	140	1,574	105	2,577	119	3,235	118	25.53%	-0.84%
UkrEximBank	1,948	149	1,910	136	1,910	136	1,186	123	1,036	114	-12.65%	-7.32%
AB "Ukrgasbank"	1,275	479	1,855	476	1,518	384	1,513	394	1,709	374	12.95%	-5.08%
Total (top 10)	364,047	11,012	418,720	9,570	345,620	8,748	434,588	6,640	470,680	5,907	8.30%	-11.04%
other banks	10,948	2,951	20,440	3,053	22,812	503	34,783	13,200	52,271	20,427	50.28%	54.75%
Total	374,995	13,963	439,160	12,623	368,432	9,251	469,371	19,840	522,951	26,334	11.42%	32.73%
market share top 10	97.1%	78.9%	95.3%	75.8%	93.8%	94.6%	92.6%	33.5%	90.0%	22.4%	-2.79%	-32.98%
Note: In 2019, UkrSotsBank was merged into Alfa Bank.
Note: liquidated Ukrainian banks are no longer listed in this table (e.g. liquidated in 2015: Delta Bank, Nadra Bank, Finance and Credit Bank).
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Contactless POS Terminals – According to NBU, in 2024, there were 484,012 contactless POS terminals in Ukraine, equivalent to 92.55% of the total terminals as of end-2024, up from 83.77% in 2020.

Starting 19 June 2015, Kiev became only the fifth city in the world to launch contactless payments at turnstiles in the city’s subway system after London, St. Petersburg, Chicago, and Bucharest. Transport operator Kyivsky Metropoliten installed contactless turnstiles equipped with Mastercard PayPass technology in 17 stations across the subway (out of 52) in partnership with Oschadbank, and all Kiev Subway stations were equipped by end-2015.

Cardholders from several countries have taken the opportunity to pay for subway rides using their cards and devices with contactless technology.

MPOS Terminals – Small and mobile merchants have started to use their smartphones and tablet PCs as a mini-POS+ECR device with added chip reader dongle. Also, merchants can initiate MOTO-like card payments on smartphones and tablets by downloading a payment app.

In December 2012, Square clones like iZettle, SumUp and others launched their services in Europe and are expected to support Ukrainian merchants in the future.

In November 2019, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and VISA announced a partnership aimed at developing digital and mobile payment services for public services and small and medium-sized businesses, including contactless MPOS terminals and QR code acceptance.

In August 2020, PrivatBank rolled out biometric POS terminals for its facial recognition payments service FacePay24. The terminals enable customers to make in-store purchases without using a card or mobile device by authenticating payments with their face and confirming the transaction with a PIN code. To use the service, customers register for FacePay24 payments via the bank’s updated Privat24 app and upload three selfies taken from different angles, which they can then link to a selected bank card. PrivatBank planned to install more than 7,500 across the country by the end of 2020.

Remote Internet Payments – Cards & More

Ukraine is a growing e-commerce market in Europe with an avid online shopping population.

Internet Use – In 2024, 82.4% of the Ukrainian people used the internet, helped by increasing smartphone coverage and access in rural areas. However, rural areas are still far behind in terms of internet access. Internet penetration increased from 71% to 76% in towns whose population exceeds 100,000 inhabitants, from 63% to 73% in towns whose population is lower than 100,000 inhabitants, and from 53% to 60% in villages.

More than 44.2 million individuals (64%) were serviced remotely. In 2021, the number of Ukrainian bank customers receiving remote services increased for business entities by 3%, and for individuals by 6%. As of 1 January 2025, more than two-thirds of all users with accounts were serviced remotely: 89.85% are business entities and 82.87% are individuals (as of 1 January 2024, 89.2% were business entities and 79.5% were individuals). As of 1 January 2025, more than two-thirds of all users with accounts were serviced remotely: 89.85% are business entities and 82.87% are individuals (as of 1 January 2024, 89.2% were business entities and 79.5% were individuals).

In 2022, 57% of the Ukrainian population shopped online, with more than 28% of online shoppers buying cross-border. Cross-border e-commerce comprised 12% of all B2C e-commerce spend.

In 2019, €2.7 billion was spent online in Ukraine, an increase of 17% from 2018. On Black Friday 2019, customers of PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest retail bank with 23 million clients, made 4.5 million purchases online worth UAH 1.3 billion ($46 million). It’s estimated that 7 million Ukrainians made online purchases in 2019, around 30% of all internet users. By 2020, with Covid-19 in full effect, many people bought online for the first time, with the e-commerce market reaching UAH 107 billion ($3.62 billion) in 2020, up 41% from 2019. Online B2C E-commerce revenue grew by 92.77% to €1.60 billion in 2024. E-commerce comprised 11% of total retail in 2021. The share of e-commerce in Ukraine’s GDP was 0.91% in 2024 (2023: 0.51%), while B2C e-commerce amount per capita rose to €42.3 in 2024 from €20.2 in 2023.

Ukraine had 21.6 million (2023: 24.3 million) social media users as of end-2024. With 13.9 million (2023: 13.85 million) Facebook users and 12.0 million Instagram (2023: 12.4 million) users in Ukraine, the Ukrainian segment of Instagram has seen more small brands selling their goods and services. Around 22% of Ukrainians purchased on the internet in 2023. By 2024, industry analysts note that around 16% of all purchases by Ukrainians were made online, and the number of online shoppers exceeded 11 million people in 2024.

13 - Internet Use in the Ukraine
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Mobile telephone subscribers (m)	53.79	55.59	57.24	54.75	46.57	-14.95%	-3.18%
Mobile subscribers in %	129.34%	135.03%	139.04%	133.00%	123.00%	-7.52%	-1.20%
Internet subscribers (m)	32.85	33.20	35.46	29.00	29.00	0.00%	0.15%
Internet subscribers in %	78.99%	80.65%	86.14%	70.44%	76.60%	8.73%	2.20%
Online B2C e-commerce revenue (€bn)	1.91	2.36	0.34	0.83	1.60	92.77%	2.71%
Annual B2C eCommerce growth rate/year	36.4%	23.6%	-85.6%	144.1%	92.8%	-35.63%	48.37%
Ø B2C e-Commerce amount per capita	€45.9	€57.3	€8.3	€20.2	€42.3	109.61%	4.81%
Note: figures from 2014 excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
Note: from 2016, internet subscribers include wireless internet subscribers.
Note: the Internet use figures for 2022 may be incomplete due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Source: State Statistical Service of Ukraine.

Cards on the Internet (CNP) – All cards with international brands are accepted in Ukrainian online shops after the merchant has signed an acceptance contract. Ukrainian banks have started to issue prepaid cards and virtual cards for internet use only.

Leading online shops in the Ukraine have started to offer remote payments on cards based on security standards like SSL with CVC2/CVV2 code and 3D-Secure (Mastercard SecureCode, Verified-by-VISA). Further, few web-based MOTO-like services are offered to Ukraine merchants by their acquirers.

The e-Payment Mix – In 2024, remote payment means as offered by the merchants in online shops were dominated by cash on delivery (60%) followed by cards (28%), e-wallet (5%) and bank transfers (5%). In 2023, despite martial law continuing in force, the NBU System of Electronic Payments (hereinafter referred to as “SEP”) operated efficiently and reliably, ensuring high levels of security for interbank settlements in domestic currency.

In 2024, online transactions card-to-bank account transfers comprised 0.6% of all cashless card transaction volume and 3.6% of value. Online (internet) payments for goods and services comprised 13.5% of transaction volume and 14.7% of value. The total value of internet payments in 2021 amounted to UAH 721.3 billion. The average transaction amount for payment of goods and services on the Internet was UAH 395 (2020 – UAH 428).

According to the NBU, in H1 2021, the number of e-commerce payments increased by 67% compared with the same period of 2020.

Remote Payments on the Mobile Internet – From 2013, online buyers started to use their smartphones for shopping on the mobile internet. Mobile online shops can be accessed by mobile internet, by mobile app, or by scanning a 2D QR-code displayed, for example, in a newspaper or at a bus station. Thus, remote mobile payments are executed by either using the e-payment page of the mobile shop or by using payment apps of a PSP or an acquirer.

Also, Ukrainian merchants can download a payment app from their acquirer in order to initiate MOTO payments with cards and/or online direct debits. Leading Ukrainian merchants are believed to consider their own apps including loyalty functions (e.g. e-vouchers, discounts, outlet finder, QR-code scanning) in the future.

Mobile Payments – Overview 

123% of Ukrainians subscribed to a mobile phone at end-2023.

From 2013, the next generation of mobile services and payments included new disruptive technologies (1D-barcodes, QR-code, Bluetooth BLE and NFC).

Mobile initiatives in Ukraine trial new technologies either as initiating form factors to bridge to online shops on the internet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, NFC) or to enable contactless access to the retail POS outlet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy, NFC Stickers, Mobile NFC Phones) e.g.:

• To enable access to online shops for any type of mobile devices (e.g. tablets, iPhones, Androids)
• To enable mobile services and payments initiated by consumers’ tablets or smartphones at ATMs, at vending machines, at smart posters and at POS terminals in retail outlets
• To enable small merchants’ tablets and smartphones by adding MPOS terminal devices for payment services.

The Ukrainian m-Payment Mix – There are no official m-payment mix statistics, but data from Mastercard shows that Ukraine already ranks fourth in the world by the number of non-cash transactions on mobile NFC devices, including services like Apple Pay and Google Pay.  According to Mastercard, 87% of bank customers are ready to use mobile applications for payments, and 58% already use them, which is the highest figure in Europe after Austria. Mobile payments are rising by an average of 25% with every month, and are mostly used in the country’s big cities, where most shops have mobile payment enabled terminals. The top four categories of mobile NFC spend are grocery stores, transportation, gas stations, cafes and restaurants.

According to the NBU, in 2020 one out of five POS transactions was made using a smartphone or a different gadget, with the value of these transactions amounting to UAH 109 billion.

Mobile Payment Initiatives 

In 2025, the various European mobile payment initiatives can be grouped into

• Non-bank players like FinTechs, payment initiation service provider (PISPs), and account information service providers (AISPs) launch digital payment services beyond cards
• Innovative banks which launch mobile banking apps allowing for card-less in-app payments and payments on the internet
• Leading banks which pilot mobile HCE NFC payments with the card credentials stored-on-file in the cloud (HCE)
• Banks partnering with mobile network operators in order to offer mobile SIM SE NFC payments on cards with the card credentials stored in a secure element on SIM card of the mobile device
• Innovative retailers which offer their own apps with loyalty and payment functions to their consumers

QR-code based Payments – In October 2015, Mobipay launched its services in the Ukraine enabling money transfers, payment, and shopping with their mobile wallet. It enabled consumers in the Ukraine to make in-store and online purchases and P2P transfers with smartphones using the MobiPay mobile wallet. The merchant provided the customer with a QR code for payment on the cash register’s monitor, POS terminal or printed it in a receipt. The solution required a VISA or Mastercard card.

In 2021, regulators approved a new format of QR code (the 002 format). It allows the bank’s client, when scanning the QR code, to automatically open the payment application of a bank that has integrated the QR code, and to make the payment. In order to make settlements more convenient, the NBU continues to promote settlements using a uniform instrument for all participants in cashless settlements: a QR code generated in line with the Rules for Generating and Using QRCode for Credit Transfers.

In 2021, the following banks successfully updated their payment apps in line with the revised rules: Alfa-Bank, Bank Grant, Ukrgasbank, Asvio Bank, PrivatBank, Monobank, and Universal Bank. Customers of these banks can now make payments using QR codes. As of the end of 2022, Asvio Bank, Bank Grant, Bank Credit Dnipro, PrivatBank, Sense Bank, UkrGasBank, izibank, sportbank, monobank, and FC Herts LLC upgraded their own payment applications, providing such convenient service to their customers. As a result, the function of transferring funds and making payments using a QR-code is available to more than 60% of bank’s customers holding a payment card.

In addition, a factor that currently deters people from using the QR code is the lack of (instant) payment confirmation compared to other payment instruments (since the QR code is for credit transfers). The NBU is considering the possibility of using QR codes for instant payments.

VEON, a global provider of connectivity and internet services, operates Kyivstar, a FinTech service in Ukraine. Kyivstar’s Smart Money app allows users to make thousands of everyday payments, such as for public transport, utility bills and TV services via their mobile phone, without the user having to pay commission or linking to a bank card. Users’ payments are safely transferred to the merchant by information security protocols via the internet using one-time only passwords generated by their unique personal profile. Smart Money gives customers the ability to pay for over 3,000 services and is regularly used by more than 1.2 million Kyivstar customers as of 2021.

In September 2019, PrivatBank and Visa enabled the first retail shops in Ukraine with the biometric mobile payment solution FacePay24. The solution integrates technologies from Visa, Amazon Web Services and the updated PrivatBank mobile app Privat24. Using the app, the cardholder takes three selfies and attaches their Visa bank card image. Users can then pay for purchases by looking into the merchant’s payment terminal camera.

In November 2019, Mastercard, PrivatBank and the Liqpay payment service launched the Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) for merchants in Ukraine, enabling the storing of tokens instead of card details in e-commerce and mobile transactions. The first entities to integrate into the service were MEGOGO.NET, OLL.TV, AUTOLUX and Privat24. MDES works with digital mobile wallets including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Garmin Pay. The new tokenisation for merchant service replaces card details with tokens and enables online merchants to increase the rate of completed payments without entering card details. According to Mastercard, the rate of successful online transactions in Ukraine is 80%, with one in five online transactions not completed at checkout. MDES is claimed to increase completed transaction rates by 6%.

Ukraine has seen rapid growth in mobile payments over the past several years, driven by high smartphone penetration, the maturity of online banking apps, and strong support from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) for digitalisation of the financial sector.

Key developments and initiatives include:

• Apple Pay and Google Pay adoption:
  • Apple Pay launched in 2018, initially through PrivatBank, and quickly expanded across all major banks.
  • Google Pay (originally Android Pay) also launched in 2018, with wide merchant and banking support.
  • Both are now mainstream payment options in Ukraine, integrated into banking apps and supported for in-store, in-app, and online payments.
• Samsung Pay:
  As of mid-2024, Samsung Pay had not yet launched in Ukraine. The rollout was delayed due to licensing and infrastructure constraints, and the broader geopolitical situation since 2022.
• LiqPay mobile ecosystem:
  PrivatBank’s LiqPay platform continues to play a central role in enabling mobile payments for merchants and consumers. It supports QR-based payments, in-app checkout, and wallet-to-wallet transfers, effectively functioning as a domestic mobile payment gateway.
• P2P and instant transfers:
  Ukrainian banks have implemented instant mobile money transfers using card numbers, phone numbers, and QR codes, often integrated into mobile banking apps such as Privat24, Monobank, and Oschad 24/7. These apps combine account management with full payment functionality, including utility payments and NFC-based contactless payments.
• Domestic innovations and pilots:
  The NBU and the PROSTIR national payment system have been working to expand mobile payment capabilities, including PROSTIR contactless and tokenised payments for NFC-enabled smartphones and wearables. PROSTIR has also launched pilot projects for QR-based payments, aimed at supporting small merchants and public service payments.
• Telecom and fintech collaborations:
  Mobile network operators (such as Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine, and lifecell) have collaborated with banks and fintechs on mobile wallet and payment solutions, enabling airtime top-ups, bill payments, and wallet-to-bank transfers via mobile apps or USSD.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CDBC) – The Digital Cash Challenge 

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), also called digital fiat currency or digital base money, is a digital currency issued by a national central bank (NCB), rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the NCB and denominated in the sovereign currency, as is the case with physical banknotes and coins.

All CBDCs are under the authority of the respective national central bank, and they are part of the domestic cash payment ecosystem. Rather than a new currency, CBDC is a form of central bank electronic money that could be used by households and businesses to make payments. In addition, most CBDC implementations will likely not use or need any sort of distributed ledger such as a blockchain.

Unlike “retail CBDC,” which is generally designed as a central bank liability universally accessible to individuals and businesses within a jurisdiction’s financial system, “wholesale CBDC” refers to a digitized central bank liability designed for sizable (generally interbank) transactions, and for which access is limited to certain financial institutions.

National Central Banks (NCBs) have been providing trusted money to the public for hundreds of years as part of their public policy objectives. Trusted money is a public good. It offers a common unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange for the sale of goods and services and settlement of financial transactions. Providing cash for public use is an important tool for central banks. Yet the world is changing.

Even before COVID-19, cash use for payments was declining fast and convenient digital payments have grown enormously in volume and diversity. To evolve and pursue their public policy objectives in a digital world, central banks are actively researching the pros and cons of offering a digital currency to the public, a “general purpose” CBDC.

Central banks’ interest in CBDC has increased as a potential means of delivering their public policy objectives. Profound, ongoing changes across finance, technology, and society, as well as the recent COVID-19 crisis, provided additional impetus for the research of, and experimentation related to, CBDCs.

CBDC is a national digital currency issued by the central bank that is expected to replace or coexist with fiat money and hold the same value. Mobile money, on the other hand, utilises existing commercial banking-based accounting to manage customer wallet balances based on an exchange with cash or lines of credit and loans.

CBDC is a direct liability on the central bank as it is the main issuer of the currency, whereas digital money is the liability of commercial banks and other authorised financial institutions using funds on account. Although some implementation approaches propose that CBDC can be implemented in either an indirect or hybrid form, its liability remains on the respective national central bank.

National CBDC Initiatives

In 2019, the NBU conducted a pilot project into the possibility of issuing its own digital currency, the e-Hryvnia In 2021, the NBU continued to research the possibility of issuing own digital currency. Furthermore, in September 2021, an e-hryvnia project was launched in order to determine the need for full-scale issue of Ukrainian digital hryvnia, study the use cases, best features, design, and architecture. As part of the project, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and other public authorities, the NBU is working on a vision of introducing its own digital currency, i.e. the theoretical idea of e-hryvnia architecture, functioning, and use cases, including determining technical requirements. At present, the NBU considers the following options for using e-hryvnia according to the findings of a survey of Ukrainian financial market players, its own research, and studying international experience:

• e-hryvnia for retail cashless payments (with the “programmable” money and social transfers options)
• e-hryvnia in the circulation of virtual assets (for instance, in the exchange and issuance of virtual assets, and in other transactions with these assets)
• e-hryvnia for cross-border payments to expedite, cut costs, and streamline cross-border payments.

Also, on 30 June 2021, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine On Payment Services prescribing that the digital money of the NBU is an electronic form of the monetary unit of Ukraine issued by the National Bank of Ukraine.

In January 2021 the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) signed a deal with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation to work on both a CBDC as well as stablecoin and virtual asset infrastructure. In August 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed support for a pilot programme to pay ministry staff salaries in digital currency. In December 2021, it was announced that Bitt Inc. along with Ukrainian commercial bank TASCOMBANK will utilize Stellar’s technology to build and test the e-hryvnia. In March 2022, Stellar announced that development of the CBDC was underway despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In December 2022, the NBU presented the ‘draft concept’ of digital hryvnia or the e-hryvnia as it progresses its explorations of a potential CBDC amidst the war with Russia. The central bank is considering and working on three CBDC applications: an e-hryvnia useable for retail payments, potentially imbued with programmable money functionality to enable targeted social payments and a ‘reduction of public spending on administration’; a CBDC becoming ‘one of the key elements of high-quality infrastructure development’ for the virtual asset market (crypto assets); and helping to make cross-border payments ‘faster, cheaper and more transparent’.

In 2023, the NBU started preparations for the e-hryvnia pilot project. The project aims to test the e-hryvnia using distributed ledger technologies (DLT) to determine whether or not there are technological prospects for the e-hryvnia’s performing the functions of money, meeting the needs of payment services users, and testing programmability hypotheses. In 2024, the NBU continued to study the need for a large-scale issuance of the e-hryvnia (central bank digital currency or CBDC) in Ukraine and to prepare for an e-hryvnia pilot project. In particular, as it prepared in 2024 for the e-hryvnia pilot project, the NBU looked into and analyzed various technological solutions that could ensure its implementation, including in accordance with the NBU’s business requirements, and communicated with the developers of such solutions to find a potential technological partner for testing the e-hryvnia.

Unregulated Cryptocurrency Products – Background 

Regulators and national central banks are challenged by unregulated independent cryptocurrency products. Whereas CBDCs are under the authority of the central bank, almost all cryptocurrencies are decentralized, and not controlled or managed by any central authority.

Obviously, financial market authorities and the national central banks are not in favour of unregulated cryptocurrency products, and they see them as a systematic risk for the financial system. Their intention to regulate the respective cryptocurrency exchange platforms has gained momentum.

Cryptocurrencies, originally designed as a store of value, are digital assets, developed and maintained on decentralized blockchains, and they can be used as a medium of exchange or payment method. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies worldwide used by consumers and businesses for transactions.

As of 2023, over 420 million people worldwide used cryptocurrencies, with merchants and businesses in more sectors accepting it as a form of payment. The major payment schemes VISA and Mastercard, PayPal and along with a growing number of financial institutions, have launched services allowing consumers to purchase or use cryptocurrencies for a range of applications.

According to a 2022 Deloitte survey, around two-thirds (64%) of surveyed merchants indicated that their customers have a significant interest in using digital currencies for payments, and 83% expect consumer interest in digital currencies for payments to increase or significantly increase over the next 12 months.

In addition, merchants are motivated by the prospect of enabling immediate access to funds (40% of respondents), taking advantage of blockchain-based innovations in decentralized digital finance (39%), and allowing in-house management of the revenue cycle/treasury/finance department (39%).

Over half (54%) of large retailers (with revenues of $500 million and up) have invested more than $1 million on enabling digital currency payments, while only 6% of small retailers (with revenues of under $10 million) did so.

A 2022 survey from Checkout.com found a sharp rise in people wanting to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, with 40% of 18-35-year-old consumers citing their desire to experiment with using crypto as a payment method, up from less than 30% in 2021. Meanwhile, over 80% of businesses say offering crypto has attracted new customers, leading to a decrease in chargebacks, while just over 60% have seen higher authorization rates accepting crypto payments.

A recent report by Triple-A for 2024–2025 reports estimate cryptocurrency ownership in Europe has climbed to approximately 50 million people, up from around 30 million in 2023. Crypto adoption in Europe grew to 8.9% of the adult population in 2025, driven by greater institutional access, major regulatory changes (like MiCA), and clearer frameworks for exchanges and wallet providers. This keeps Europe’s ownership rate ahead of previous years, though still trailing regions like Asia and the Americas in terms of total share and growth rate.

A report by UNCTAD in 2021 indicated that 12.7% of the population in Ukraine owned digital currencies.

Two days after the Russian invasion began in February 2022, the Ukrainian government posted addresses to its Bitcoin, Ethereum, and tether wallets on social media. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine now accepts donations in 14 cryptocurrencies.

In 2021 Ukraine ranked fourth in the world for crypto adoption, according to an index created by Chainalysis, a data firm. The draft “On Virtual Assets” law was first passed in a near-unanimous vote in Ukraine’s parliament in September 2021. Since war broke out, the Ukrainian government has sought to improve its crypto infrastructure. On March 16th, 2022, President Zelensky signed a number of amended crypto regulations into law, officially legalizing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Banks are now permitted to open accounts for crypto companies and there are new protections against fraud, such as requiring exchanges to register with the government. Regulators will also get new powers of oversight. Apart from appointing the sector’s regulators and legalising crypto trade, the new law allows Ukrainian banks to open accounts for crypto firms and supposedly provides for consumers’ cryptocurrency holdings—the same legal protections as the legal tender, the hryvnya.

Market Size and Dynamics

Cards in Issue

As of January 2025, 59 banks were members of domestic or international payment card systems issuing and acquiring payment cards, according to NBU.

During 2012, NBU changed its definition of active cards to those used at least once in a three-month period. Up to and including 2011, the definition was those cards used at least once in a 12-month period.

The number of Ukrainian active payment cards in issue grew at nearly 40% compound over the 2003-2007 period, peaking at 41.2 million, equivalent to 0.9 cards per capita, in 2007. Over the next two years, active cards in issue slumped to 29 million before recovering.

In 2024, there were 132.04 million cards in circulation, of which 58.75 million were active cards (44.49%). According to the NBU, active card penetration for 2024 in Ukraine was 1.43 per capita at end-2024, and 3.21 based on the total of cards.

Total active cards rose by 12.70% from 2023. Figures from 2014 exclude the active cards of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Also, in 2014 and 2015, card numbers declined due to the ongoing economic and political crisis.

Out of the total number of active cards, magnetic stripe cards comprised 6.03%, internet-only virtual cards 6.29% and chip & mag stripe cards (issued for international use) accounted for 59.67%. According to the NBU, active debit cards were 64.18% and active credit cards 35.82%.

Contactless cards accounted for 35.00 million cards, equivalent to 59.58% of the active card base.

14 - Active Cards in Ukraine
(000s)	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Cardholders	49,461	57,603	67,256	69,335	72,349	4.35%	9.21%
Cards in circulation	73,430	89,105	109,796	115,135	132,041	14.68%	13.90%
Debit cards	28,439	30,171	31,188	34,220	37,707	10.19%	3.12%
Credit cards	12,011	16,118	15,109	17,911	21,043	17.49%	16.46%
Total active cards	40,450	46,289	46,297	52,131	58,750	12.70%	6.86%
Active cards per capita - Ukraine	0.97	1.12	1.12	1.27	1.43	12.70%	7.24%
Payment cards per capita - EA10 total	1.65	1.83	2.09	2.42	2.42	0.00%	9.97%
Active cards by technology
mag stripe	19,323	15,112	10,995	7,640	3,540	-53.66%	-34.22%
chip & mag stripe	16,970	23,743	26,325	30,712	35,056	14.14%	26.98%
- thereof contactless	13,180	20,014	26,149	30,609	35,006	14.37%	32.28%
virtual cards for internet only	211	741	1,040	1,386	3,695	166.59%	69.38%
Note: according to NBU, cards are considered as active cards in case they are used a minimum of once in a quarter of the year.
Note: figures from 2014 may exclude active cards of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
Source: National bank of Ukraine.

Card Fraud

Card fraud is one of the most fascinating aspects of the payments industry, not least because it is relentless and mutating. EMV implementation and 3D-Secure, combined with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), have done much to reduce domestic losses from lost and stolen cards in Europe. However, the war against fraud losses and the changing face of fraud continues to be a threat for the payments industry, including Ukraine.

The global card fraud challenges are Card-Not-Present fraud (CNP), cross-border fraud and counterfeiting on non-EMV cards. CNP fraud accounted for 80% of the total value of card fraud losses in 2020. From 2017, a new payment fraud category are fraud losses on contactless card payments. International card fraud continues to be smaller in scale than domestic card abuse but is proportionately far more common. And of course, fraudulent cross-border transactions on cards continue to grow on all purchase channels.

Losses from card fraud on the internet and cross-border fraud on domestic cards have grown significantly. Following EMV implementation, card fraud has moved increasingly to countries where POS terminals or online shops have not yet been migrated to EMV and SCA, respectively, and to cross-border fraud with compromised cards.

The breakdown of card fraud losses by method of compromise already indicates the importance of distinguishing between domestic and cross-border fraud losses. The method of compromise covers the means by which fraudsters obtain payment cards or card details. Notable methods of compromise in a complex payment world are CNP fraud based on theft of card credentials and card lost and stolen fraud followed by growing ID fraud and by cross-counterfeit fraud.

The main method of compromise responsible for losses in many European countries is now the theft of card credentials. A high proportion of these card fraud losses are caused by the growth in e-commerce, and still the lack of use of Strong Customer Authentication methods such as 3D-Secure.

In a post data-breach world, identity information, payment credentials, account credentials and responses to security questions are widely available for purchase in bulk. Complete fraud exploits and zero-day attacks are also easily available on the black market for outright purchase or as a hosted / fully managed service.

In the digital payments world and having the changing face of fraud in mind, there are significant challenges for card issuing banks, payment service providers and their supporting processors.

It has been reported that Ukrainian criminals are among the most successful at obtaining and using card data illegally. As many card transactions in the Ukraine are cash withdrawals, criminals have tended to target ATMs.

In 2019, the NBU stated that losses from illegal payment card transactions more than halved from 2018. Losses from illegal actions with payment cards amounted to 0.0042% of the total value of all payment card transactions (in 2018 – 0.0092%, in 2017 – 0.0077%). That is, only UAH 42 accounted for illegal actions/ suspicious transactions for every UAH 1 million in card-related expenditures in 2019.

The overall number of fraudulent payment card transactions inflicting losses on banks dropped by one-third to 71,900 cases in 2019 (compared to 105,500 cases in 2018). The largest number of fraudulent card transactions in 2019 took place on the internet, or 41,400 cases (58% of the total). However, this indicator was almost halved from 2018. At the same time, fraudulent transactions using ATMs and payments in retail networks were almost equal in number and value as the prior year.

According to the NBU, social engineering remains the most popular method of fraud.  In 2022, social engineering was most frequently used by fraudsters in committing illegal acts with payment cards and their data. Social engineering involves misleading cardholders to divulge their personal data, payment card details, or codes/ passwords.

The NBU stated that in 2021, the level of payment card fraud in Ukraine increased, but compared to the EU countries it is much lower. In Ukraine, the indicator of relative damage from the total volume of transactions with payment cards is UAH 65 losses per UAH 1 million, and in the EU countries, according to the ECB, this figure is several times higher and reached €360 losses per €1 million. The growth of fraud came from internet fraud. For every UAH 1 million of debit transactions with payment cards made on the internet, the amount of losses increased from UAH 61 (in 2020) to UAH 114 (in 2021). The average amount of fraudulent transactions on the internet remained almost unchanged and amounted to UAH 1,642 in 2021. According to FICO, the total value of card fraud losses in Ukraine in 2021 was UAH 156.4 million.

In 2024, the cyber incident response team for the banking system of Ukraine (CSIRT-NBU) identified and initiated the blocking of approximately 70,000 phishing resources related to financial fraud and stylized as governmental, public, and popular portals.

According to FICO, the total value lost to card fraud in Ukraine in 2020 amounted to UAH 150.1 million, up from UAH 149.4 million in 2019. The largest fraud category was card-not-present fraud at UAH 95.1 million (2019: UAH 92.5 million; 2018: UAH 88.1 million; 2017: UAH 86 million), followed by ID fraud at UAH 23.4 million (2019: UAH 24.1 million; 2018: UAH 25.9 million; 2017: UAH 26.6 million), and counterfeit card fraud at UAH 13.8 million (2019: UAH 12.2 million; 2018: UAH 17 million; 2017: UAH 18 million).

EMA, the Ukrainian Interbank Payment Systems Member Association, said that there is less fraud at POS terminals, since merchants often request photographic identification such as passports. However, as most POS card transactions are now authorised online-to-issuer, acquirer card fraud losses in the Ukraine are under control except for offline vending machines, e-commerce, and other hotspots.

Credit card fraud prevention measures taken have been pushing 3D-Secure, updating bank fraud prevention systems and real-time-scoring, implementing more rule-based fraud control mechanisms. Also, issuers offer PIN selection at ATMs and SMS notification to inform cardholders about the use of their credit card. Increasingly, many issuers are using biometric authentication.

In June 2021, EMA created a single interbank API service to verify the compliance of cardholders. The Cardholder Verification service has been launched in partnership with the payment service 4bill.io. The API database service, an automated service for collecting and verifying information on payment and credit fraud incidents, was also launched in 2020 along with the Mobile Check service, a service for automated checking of SIM card replacement statuses from mobile operators.

In 2024, Ukraine remains a major focus for the international fight against payment fraud, especially in terms of cyber-security and online account hacking. In January 2019, a Ukrainian national was convicted of hacking the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s EDGAR corporate accounts filing system and stealing confidential information which was later used to make stock trading profits of $4.1 million. In mid-2019, the US and Europol worked with authorities in Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria and other countries to take down the GozNym fraud network, which had been used to steal $100 million from 41,000 victims’ computers.

In June 2017, several Ukrainian banks were affected by a coordinated ransomware cyberattack targeting firms around the world. The Ukrainian central banks said that a number of banks in the country are “having difficulties with client services”, while media reports said that the Kiev metro system was not accepting card payments.

In September 2019, it was reported that a Ukrainian national member of the FIN7 cybercrime organisation pled guilty to being a member of the group, which launched cyber-attacks against hundreds of US companies. FIN7 stole the details of around 15 million debit and credit cards between 2015 and 2019, causing more than $100 million in losses.

In October 2020, to counter cybercrime, lawmakers in Ukraine’s ruling party proposed a set of laws that would strengthen state access to internet data. The proposed changes seek to bring legislation in line with the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime, for example, by regulating for the first time the use of electronic evidence in criminal proceedings.

According to reporting from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and other sources: for every 1 million Ukrainian hryvnias of payment-card transaction volume, fraud losses were about 176 Ukrainian hryvnias.

In 2024, the number of fraud cases per million payment transactions was about 31. That figure represents a decline (~8 %) compared to 2023, due largely to the growth in total transaction volume (so the fraud share dropped, even if absolute losses rose).

The loss amount from card-fraud-related transactions in Ukraine in 2024 reportedly reached about 169 million Ukrainian hryvnias, marking about a 4 % increase from the previous year.

Card Use

The number of transactions with payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks, including international transactions, has risen at a steady pace over the past five years, outstripping the overall rise in the number of active cards. In consequence, transactions per card have almost doubled over five years. The value of transactions series tells a similar story, though some of the increase reflects inflation rather than underlying growth.

The transaction figures cover cash acquisition and payments. As in most other emerging markets, in previous years cash withdrawals formed the majority of transaction value. But in 2019, non-cash payments overtook cash withdrawals for the first time. In 2023, cash withdrawal value amounted to 36.57% of total card transaction value, but card payments rose rapidly, with the share of cashless card payments value in Ukraine surging to 64.8% in 2023 from just 8.0% in 2011.

ATM withdrawals fell to 6.5% of total transactions in 2023, falling from 67.6% in 2012. The trend towards greater use of cards for payments is now well established. Based on central bank figures, in 2021, payments on cards were 57.2% of total card transactions, up from 32.5% in 2012.

From 2014, there were more POS payments than withdrawals by number. In 2007, 91.5% of total transactions were ATM withdrawals and only 8.5% were card payments.

According to NBU, in 2024, almost 70% of noncash payment card transactions were carried out in the retail network, accounting for 40.4% of all noncash transactions. At the same time, about 90.0% of such transactions in number and value were executed using contactless payment technology and NFC technology.

According to the NBU, in 2024, there were 8.65 billion transactions on cards (9.38% from 2023) with a total transaction value of UAH 6.57 trillion (+7.11% from 2023), and there were 147.3 transactions per active card, down by 2.95% over 2023. The ATV per card transaction increased to UAH 1,315.78 or $32.77 as calculated in USD.

15 - Transactions on Ukrainian Cards
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Active cards (000s)	40,450	46,289	46,297	52,131	58,750	12.70%	6.86%
Transactions per active card	148.3	168.9	135.2	151.8	147.3	-2.95%	4.19%
Transactions value per active card	97,832.1	109,998.7	118,677.8	117,794.7	111,956.3	-4.96%	5.70%
Transactions (m)	5,997.1	7,817.1	6,258.5	7,912.5	8,654.5	9.38%	11.34%
- thereof cash withdrawals (m)	786.0	777.2	462.6	515.3	469.6	-8.86%	-12.01%
- thereof payments (m)	5,211.2	7,039.9	5,795.9	7,397.2	8,184.8	10.65%	14.46%
Transactions value (UAH bn)	3,957.3	5,091.7	5,494.5	6,140.8	6,577.4	7.11%	12.96%
- thereof cash withdrawals (UAH bn)	1,748.6	1,992.6	1,774.3	2,160.8	2,334.0	8.02%	5.59%
- thereof payments (UAH bn)	2,208.7	3,099.1	3,720.1	3,980.0	4,243.5	6.62%	18.73%
ATV per card transaction (UAH)	1,515.45	1,535.25	1,139.07	1,288.53	1,315.78	2.11%	-1.43%
Payments in % of transactions	86.9%	90.1%	92.6%	93.5%	94.6%	1.16%	2.79%
Payments value in % of transactions	55.8%	60.9%	67.7%	64.8%	64.5%	-0.46%	5.11%
Transactions per capita	144.2	189.9	152.0	192.2	228.6	18.93%	13.63%
Transactions value per capita (UAH)	95,154.1	123,683.8	133,466.4	149,165.8	173,729.4	16.47%	15.27%
Note: the total number of transactions on Ukrainian cards for 2022 may be incomplete due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Withdrawals on cards – According to the NBU, in 2024, there were 469.6 million withdrawals on cards (-8.86% over 2023) with a total withdrawal value of UAH 2,334.0 billion (8.02% from 2023). In 2024, there were 8.0 withdrawals per active card, and the ATV per cash withdrawal accounted for UAH 201.21 (-15.63%) or $5.01 as calculated in USD.

16 - Cash Withdrawals on Ukrainian Cards
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Active cards (000s)	40,450	46,289	46,297	52,131	58,750	12.70%	6.86%
Withdrawals per active card	19.4	16.8	10.0	9.9	8.0	-19.13%	-17.66%
Withdrawals value per active card	43,228.4	43,047.2	38,324.86	41,448.66	39,727.13	-4.15%	-1.19%
Cash withdrawals on cards (m)	786.0	777.2	462.6	515.3	469.6	-8.86%	-12.01%
Cash withdrawals value (UAHbn)	1,748.6	1,992.6	1,774.3	2,160.8	2,334.0	8.02%	5.59%
ATV per cash withdrawal (UAH)	449.49	390.04	260.72	238.48	201.21	-15.63%	-16.66%
Cash withdrawals per capita	18.9	18.9	11.2	12.5	11.4	-8.86%	-11.69%
Cash withdrawals value per capita (UAH)	42,045.1	48,402.8	43,100.6	52,487.3	56,694.7	8.02%	5.96%
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Payments on cards – According to the NBU, in 2024, there were 8.18 billion POS payments (10.65% from 2023) with a total payments value UAH 4,243.5 billion (+6.62% over 2023). In 2024, there were 139.3 payments per active card (-1.82% Vs 2023), and the ATV per card payment accounted for UAH 518.45 (-3.64%) or $12.91 as calculated in USD. In 2024, online payments reached the level of 13.5% of the total amount of non-cash payments on cards.

17 - Payments on Ukrainian Cards
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Active cards (000s)	40,450	46,289	46,297	52,131	58,750	12.70%	6.86%
Payments per active card	128.8	152.1	125.2	141.9	139.3	-1.82%	7.11%
Payments value per active card	54,603.7	66,951.5	80,353.0	76,346.0	72,229.2	-5.39%	11.11%
Payments (m)	5,211.2	7,039.9	5,795.9	7,397.2	8,184.8	10.65%	14.46%
Payments value (UAHbn)	2208.7	3099.1	3720.1	3980.0	4243.5	6.62%	18.73%
ATV per card payment (UAH)	423.85	440.22	641.85	538.04	518.45	-3.64%	3.74%
Payments per capita	125.3	171.0	140.8	179.7	198.8	10.65%	14.86%
Payments value per capita (UAH)	53,109.1	75,281.1	90,365.8	96,678.6	103,078.5	6.62%	19.15%
Note: the total number of payments on Ukrainian cards for 2022 may be incomplete due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Contactless Card Payments – According to the Ukrainian Processing Centre (UPC), the number of contactless card transactions increased by 44%, and by volumes increased by 46% in 2021 compared to 2020, driven largely by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, 65.2% of all POS terminal transactions were contactless.

Ukrainians actively use contactless to pay at petrol stations, restaurants, supermarkets, beauty stores and for public transport services. Although the numbers of contactless payments in public transport grew by 500%, they covered only 5% of all contactless transactions.

In 2024, the number of contactless payment cards increased by 14.4% to 35 million cards from 30.6 million in 2023. In general, more than half (59.5%) of payment cards used in 2024 for debit transactions were contactless cards. In 2024, the NBU reported that 95.7% of the volume and 94.7% of the value of non-cash payment card transactions were carried out using contactless payment technology and NFC technology.

Card Use per Capita

In 2024, there were 11.4 cash withdrawals per capita (-8.86% from 2023) while the total cash withdrawals value per capita amounted to UAH 56,694.7, up by 8.02% compared to 2023.

In 2024, there were 198.8 card payments per capita (10.65% from 2023) while the total card payments value per capita amounted to UAH 103,078.5, up by 6.62% compared to 2023.

In 2024, Ukrainians made an average of 139.3 transactions per active card, a new peak level for the country.

(See Tables 16 and 17, “Cash withdrawals on Ukrainian cards” and “Payments on Ukrainian cards”).

Debit Card Use

NBU does not report details on debit cards by number and the debit cards use.

In June 2023, the total number of payment cards issued in Ukraine was 110.3 million, showing a 1% increase from January 2023.

The number of cards used for debit transactions (active cards) was 52.1 million in December 2023, which is 45.3% of all issued payment cards.

There’s been a growing trend in contactless and tokenized cards:

• As of December 2023, 58.7% of active payment cards were contactless
• In June 2023, 21% of active cards were tokenized, up from 19% in January 2023

As of 2022, the market share of major card issuers in Ukraine was:

• Visa: 45.6% (50.0 million cards)
• Mastercard: 53.9% (59.2 million cards)

Credit Card Use

NBU does not report details on credit cards by number and the credit cards use.

E-Money Use

In 2021, the volume of transactions with e-money decreased by UAH 9,141 million from UAH 19,304 million in 2020 to UAH 10,163 million in 2021. The number of e-wallets decreased by 56 million, from 79 million to 23 million in 2021. At the same time, e-money issuance decreased by almost UAH 22.7 million from UAH 60 million to UAH 37.3 million in 2021. This was caused by several big market players leaving the market in H2 2020 and throughout 2021. At the same time, an analysis of the e-money market for the 2014-2020 period demonstrated that despite a decline in 2020 in the volume of e-money issued by banks, consumer demand for e-money in Ukraine is still increasing.

NBU did not report e-money volumes for 2022 – 2024 due to the selected suspension of statistical reporting on payments following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Leading Card Issuers

PrivatBank is the largest card issuer, reporting 31.5 million active cards out of 56.68 million cards in circulation, more than double fold those of Oschadbank and Raiffeisen Bank Aval, the next biggest, as at end-2024. PrivatBank reduced its proportion of inactive cards from 54.7% in 2012 to 44.4% in 2024.

In its 2021 annual report, PrivatBank stated that with 18 million active customers (2020: 17.8 million), 50% of Ukrainians over 16 consider PrivatBank their main bank. More than 20 million people have used PrivatBank’s services at least once in their lives, half of all users of banking services in Ukraine, from individuals to companies and entrepreneurs. In 2024, the bank reported 180,700 new customers, (2023: 215,300).

During 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting cash usage, PrivatBank provided customers with complete contactless solutions via virtual cards, which are instantly issued through the Privat24 app on smartphones. During the year it issued 440,000 fully contactless virtual cards. In 2020, Ukrainians conducted 1.6 billion transactions worth UAH 325 billion in the POS terminals of PrivatBank, 26% and 31% more than in 2019 respectively.

In May 2022, PrivatBank launched a project for issuing PROSTIR payment cards for pensions, social and other benefits, as well as pay-outs to internally displaced people.

In April 2014, PrivatBank joined NSMEP, the National Retail Electronic Payments System. The membership status is certified by a certificate of membership and license, which gives PrivatBank the right to use the trademark NSMEP. In July 2016, PrivatBank launched contactless PROSTIR cards.

18 - Privatbank Key Figures
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Cards issued (000s)	34,326.1	40,210.1	48,050.4	50,513.6	56,681.2	12.21%	11.57%
- thereof active cards (000s)	22,618.0	24,429.8	25,883.3	28,197.1	31,522.7	11.79%	5.64%
Active cards	65.9%	60.8%	53.9%	55.8%	55.6%	-0.37%	-5.31%
ATMs	19,696	19,005	16,854	17,323	17,278	-0.26%	-2.83%
ATM market share	56.7%	56.5%	59.6%	59.4%	59.5%	0.14%	1.41%
POS terminals	227,008	251,089	222,527	290,160	317,419	9.39%	8.98%
POS terminal market share	58.4%	57.2%	60.4%	61.8%	60.7%	-1.81%	0.58%
Branches and offices	1,690	1,495	1,208	1,209	1,175	-2.81%	-9.43%
Note: Privatbank did nor provide figures for 2021 and 2022.
Source: Privatbank.

Oschadbank reported 17.7 million issued cards at end-2024, giving it a market share of 13.4%. Oschadbank issues cards branded Mastercard, VISA, or UkrKart, respectively. It was one of the first banks in Ukraine to issue contactless cards branded VISA payWave and Mastercard PayPass. In July 2016, Oschadbank launched contactless PROSTIR cards.

Oschadbank’s payroll card programmes are used by around 27,000 private and state-owned enterprises. The number of active customer cards issued under payroll card projects was almost 4 million in 2021. In 2024, the number of accounts with salary transfers increased by more than 52,000 accounts and amounted to 1.285 million, which is the second largest in the market. About 12,748 legal entities were involved (33% more than in 2023) and 233,300 new payroll accounts were activated (8,000 more than in 2023). The market share occupied by Oschadbank according to the number of payroll cardholders is 25%. Over 36% of all pensioners in Ukraine receive their pensions through Oschadbank; the number of active pension cards was 2.5 million in 2020. During 2020, the bank expanded issuance of municipal cards, which are hybrid banking and ID cards. In total, eight municipal city card projects were implemented, with over 800,000 municipal cards issued.

During 2020, Oschadbank increased its card loan portfolio. The total amount of credit limit on credit cards used by customers was UAH 4.2 billion.

Raiffeisen Bank (RB) – The self-service centres allow the bank’s VISA or Mastercard cardholders to carry out a broad range of transactions without contact with bank staff, including making deposits, repaying loans, bill payments and fund transfers between cards.

During 2024, Raiffeisen Bank’s number of active cards exceeded 2.36 million out of a total of 6.15 million, and the bank offered an updated line of business credit cards by introducing two new fee models with different product and service packages: the Entrepreneur+ Credit Card and Fishback Business Credit Card. The total number of business credit cards issued by was 22,900 as of 2020. The total portfolio of credit card loans for businesses amounted to UAH 329.2 million in 2020.

The bank also launched new service packages: Raifcard and Raifcard+. Cardholders are offered a guaranteed cashback of up to 20% on all purchases at physical stores and online, and also, the following free services: opening a VISA Gold card, cash withdrawals at any ATM in Ukraine, crediting any transfers to the cardholder’s account, utility bill payments in Ukraine using IBAN, informing the cardholder about account activity, and online banking. The bank also developed the FUN Card for children and teens with a loyalty programme and teaching financial literacy in a special mobile app. It also launched the ability to add funds in cash to a card account via the network of its partner, EasyPay, featuring over 14,000 self-service terminals across Ukraine.

Universal Bank ranked second by active cards issued in 2024, with 9.77 million active cards (42.1%) out of a total of 23.23 million cards issued. It issues cards branded Mastercard, VISA, or Debit Mastercard, respectively.

Sense Bank (formerly Alfa Bank), controlled by Alfa Bank Group (RUS), ranked eighth by active cards issued in 2024, with 582,286 active cards (22.8%) out of a total of 2.5 million cards issued. It issues cards branded Mastercard, VISA, or Debit Mastercard, respectively. Also, it issues virtual cards for internet use only. In 2017, Alfa Bank launched contactless PROSTIR cards.

First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB), ranked sixth by active cards issued in 2024, with 1,369,540 active cards (22.0%) out of a total of 6.23 million cards issued. It issues cards branded Mastercard credit and Mastercard debit cards.

Fast-rising banks in the card issuing space include A-Bank, which reported 1,788,160 active cards out of a total portfolio of 8.70 million in 2024.

Home Credit Bank, the consumer finance specialist, sold out to privately-owned Platinum Bank in February 2011. Home Credit, owned by Czech-based PPF Group, entered Ukraine via a double acquisition – PrivatKredit and the joint-stock commercial bank Bank Agrobank – In July 2006.

As in its other markets, Home Credit focused primarily on providing consumer finance services in the form of consumer loans and revolving credit, notably credit cards. In 2008, Home Credit froze lending operations in Ukraine and focused on the collection of existing loans and the gathering of deposits through the branch network.

Lending to individuals was also the primary business focus of Bank Rodovid. The bank, formerly Percombank, was founded in 1990 in Kiev. From 2004, it was majority-owned by five individuals, including two senior managers holding the largest individual stakes. However, Bank Rodovid went into temporary administration in March 2009 as a prerequisite for state participation in the recapitalization of the bank.

Payroll Schemes on Cards

In the Ukraine, Maestro and Electron cards are often issued under payroll schemes. Under these schemes, large and small companies, as well as some government agencies and departments, pay employee salaries into a bank account, which is then accessed by the card. In the early days of these schemes, employees typically withdraw all or most of the funds immediately, but as confidence and familiarity builds, more money is left in the accounts and an increasing proportion gradually tends to be used at the POS.

Mastercard joined forces with Nadra Bank, a long-standing partner which serves the Ukrainian mining industry, to issue credit cards to the bank’s salary/payroll cardholders. The credit cards offered a 45-day grace period and cashback of 1% for every $100 spent on purchases. Nadra had been active in seeking payroll business, reporting 130 such projects in April 2012 and adding that it received salaries and social benefits for about 495,000 individuals.

Mastercard Electronic, a card product designed for emerging markets, linked to credit facilities and providing 100% authorization of POS payments, was launched in December 2003 by Nadra Bank. More than 20 banks took up licences to issue Mastercard Electronic and the number of cards issued was expected to reach 2 million over two to three years. By end-2009, Nadra’s card base had fallen by 80% from its peak level, but under new direction it recovered.

International Money Transfers

According to NBU, in 2024, a total of 25 money transfer systems provided services in Ukraine:

• Five systems created by banks
• One national payment system created by the NBU (PROSTIR National Payment System).
• 10 systems created by non-banks
• Intrabank payment systems ceased to operate in 2023, while a number of payment systems and payment service technology operators voluntarily left the payment market.
• Nine money transfer systems established by non-residents

Ukraine is a net recipient of transnational transfers. In 2021, the ratio of funds received in Ukraine via money transfer to outflow was 485%, almost five times as much as those sent abroad. As of the time of compilation of this report, complete information on remittances in 2023 was not available.

According to NBU, in 2024, the formal remittances inflow reported through bank accounts and money transfer systems amounted to $5.46 billion. In addition, the remittances inflow through informal channels was $3.99 billion. The transfer values made by money transfer systems were:

• Within Ukraine – $ 33.2 billion (in equivalent)
• Inflow to Ukraine – $2.5 billion (in equivalent)
• Outflow from Ukraine – $0.4 billion (in equivalent)

In 2024, the remittances flow totalled $9.46 billion (or 5.0% of GDP), down by 16.19% from 2023. The amount of remittances flowing through bank accounts declined by 4.75% to $3.54 billion, and its share of total remittances amounted to 31.41%.

The share of remittances from individuals who have been working abroad for more than a year amounted to 51.09% of the total personal transfers in 2024 (2023: 46.86%). Compensation of employees accounted for $5.26 billion, 55% of the total.

19 - Remittance Flows in Ukraine
($m)	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Total remittances flow amounts	11,980	14,019	12,499	11,292	9,464	-16.19%	0.43%
Remiitances in % of GDP	7.7%	7.0%	7.8%	6.2%	5.0%	-19.35%	-9.42%
By incoming channels:
- through bank accounts	4,715	4,977	3,724	3,547	2,970	-16.27%	2.77%
- through international payment systems	2,694	3,157	3,368	2,451	2,495	1.80%	2.12%
- through informal channels	4,571	5,885	5,407	5,294	3,999	-24.46%	-2.01%
By source of formation:
- compensation of employees	8,505	9,569	8,558	7,451	5,260	-29.41%	-3.45%
- personal transfers	3,475	4,469	3,941	3,841	4,204	9.45%	7.02%
- of which from individuals working abroad more than one year	1,163	1,907	1,682	1,800	2,148	19.33%	16.62%
- other personal transfers	2,312	2,562	2,259	2,041	2,056	0.73%	0.56%
Note: figures for 2020 have been restated.
Note: figures from 2014 are excluding the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

As in previous years, eight countries remained the main sources of remittances to Ukraine. The share of these countries in the total inflows shortened to 66.5% (2023: 69.7%).

In September 2016, following a National Security and Defence Council decision, new yearlong restrictions were imposed against six payment institutions of international payment systems founded by Russian residents (e.g. CONTACT). As a result, remittance inflow from Russia fell deeply in 2016, 2017, and in 2018. By 2019, Russian remittance inflow amounted to UAH 1.2 billion, an increase of 13.11% from 2018. By 2021, figures stood at UAH 776 billion, a fall of 10.08% from 2020. In 2023 and 2024, no remittances were reported from Russia as severe international sanctions disrupt Russian remittance channels.

The largest proportion of inflows was from Poland (34.8% of total funds received), followed by USA (12.0%), UK (8.8%), Czechia (7.4%), Germany (6.6%), Italy (3.4%), and Cyprus (2.8%).

20 - Remittances Inflow by Source Country
($m)	2020	% of total	2021	% of total	2022	% of total	2023	% of total	2024	% of total	GR 23/24	CAGR 5Y
Total remittances inflow amounts	11,980	100.0%	14,019	100.0%	12,499	100.0%	11,292	100.0%	9,464	100.0%	-16.19%	-3.16%
Share of top-8 countries	8,632	67.8%	10,318	70.4%	10,375	70.4%	8,519	71.1%	7,175	73.2%	-15.78%	-2.42%
Poland	3,300	25.7%	4,647	33.4%	4,705	33.4%	4,163	36.9%	3,292	34.8%	-20.92%	-2.04%
USA	1,220	10.3%	1,491	10.6%	1,491	10.6%	1,221	10.8%	1,133	12.0%	-7.21%	5.42%
UK	1,013	8.5%	988	7.0%	988	7.0%	806	7.1%	829	8.8%	2.85%	16.04%
Czech Republic	834	7.0%	877	6.2%	877	6.2%	982	8.7%	704	7.4%	-28.31%	-3.61%
Russia	863	8.5%	777	5.5%	776	5.5%	-	-	-	-	-	-
Germany	513	4.3%	608	4.3%	608	4.3%	728	6.4%	628	6.6%	-13.74%	8.07%
Italy	475	4.0%	490	3.5%	490	3.5%	315	2.8%	322	3.4%	2.22%	-8.13%
Cyprus	414	3.5%	440	3.1%	440	3.1%	304	2.7%	267	2.8%	-12.17%	-4.77%
Israel	361	3.0%	422	3.0%	422	3.0%	492	4.4%	458	4.8%	-6.91%	6.33%
Greece	195	1.6%	207	1.5%	207	1.5%	116	1.0%	106	1.1%	-8.62%	-11.11%
UAE	145	1.2%	192	1.4%	192	1.4%	85	0.8%	86	0.9%	1.18%	-10.88%
EU countries subtotal	6,822	63.9%	8,602	61.4%	8,660	61.5%	7,867	69.7%	6,289	66.5%	-20.06%	-2.53%
CIS countries subtotal	1,012	9.7%	926	6.6%	926	6.6%	926	6.6%	926	6.6%	0.00%	-5.82%
Note: EU figures from 2020 exclude UK.
Note: from 2015 onwards, figures are based on bank statements on transactions with non-residents and the transfers performed using international money transfer systems and include those amounts received through informal channels.
Source: National Bank of Ukraine.

Before the restrictions were imposed, Zolotoya Korona had lost the market leadership captured in 2013 to Western Union, the long-standing No. 1. This duopoly continued to dominate the Ukrainian cross-border money transfer market up to the end of 2016. In October 2016, Ukraine banned the operations of Zolotaya Korona and all other Russian payment systems as part of its sanction policy against the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.

During 2024, Ukrainian banks, Ukrainian Financial Group, and Ukrpost participated in 24 resident and non-resident international money transfer systems. In 2024, the market leaders for money transfers into Ukraine/abroad were Western Union (37.6%) and MoneyGram (19.2%).

Among individual money transfer service providers, in February 2016, Western Union launched an online money transfer services in the Ukraine in collaboration with PrivatBank.

In May 2016, remittances provider Tempo Money Transfer started operation in the Ukraine, in collaboration with Unistream. Clients could send money from Tempo’s agent locations in Germany and France and receive funds at service points where Unistream pay-outs were available.

In February 2017, WorldRemit launched new money transfer corridors across Russia in collaboration with the Russian Payment System CONTACT. Now the service has been scaled up to the CIS-markets. WorldRemit users can now send money to be collected as cash pick up at more than 3,000 POS in the Ukraine.

With the WorldRemit app or website, people in more than 50 countries can send instant, secure money transfers to more than 125 destinations.

In February 2018, Opal Transfer (UK) launched a new money transfer service between Poland and Ukraine. Opal said that there are more than 2 million Ukrainians currently working in Poland who will be able to use Opal Transfer’s app, and benefit from Opal’s same day transfer service.

In July 2019, online money transfer system TransferGo extended its 24/7/365 transfer service to Ukraine. The UK’s PaySend also entered the Ukrainian money transfer market in 2019.

Appendix

Developments in Ukrainian Banking – History

Delta Bank was declared insolvent in March 2015. It was founded in 2006 by Ukrainian entrepreneur Nikolai Lagun. The bank had focused on credit cards and consumer lending, following in some respects the model of Russian Standard Bank, but was attempting to develop into a broad-based retail bank. In 2011, Lagun brought in Cargill Financial Services (US) as a 30.1% shareholder.

Delta had been one of Ukraine’s most acquisitive banks, since 2010, with purchases including Swedbank’s retail portfolio, Kreditprombank, and Astra Bank (respective assets $300 million, $1.5 billion, and $200 million); Astra was formerly the Ukrainian subsidiary of Greece’s Alpha Bank.

Developments in Ukrainian Banking – History
2024
February	Alpari Bank terminated its banking activities
April	Taskombank announced that it would cease Sportbank operations
December	Kominvestbank was removed from the market for violating laws and the regulator’s requirements.
2023
July	Sense Bank (formerly Alfa Bank) was fully nationalised by the Ukrainian government and placed under state control.
2022
August	Bank SICH was declared insolvent by Ukrainian authorities.
February	International Reserve Bank (Sberbank UA) and Prominvestbank liquidated in response to the Russian invasion.
2019
October	Alfa-Bank Ukraine acquired UkrSotsBank and absorbed it in 2020.
Source: Yearbooks research.