AUB News

Instant payments between Ukrainian bank accounts allow businesses to significantly reduce the cost of settlements, simplify payment acceptance, and bring Ukraine's financial system closer to European standards. This was announced by Andriy Dubas, President of the Association of Ukrainian Banks, on the Novyny.LIVE TV channel.

According to him, traditional bank details — IBAN account number, identification code, bank details — are difficult to enter manually and remember, which has long complicated the process of making payments.

“A bank account has certain details. The main detail is the account number, now called IBAN. In addition, there is an identification code or EDRPOU for a company, which used to be the bank's MFO. Entering all this data or memorizing it is time-consuming and difficult,” explained Andriy Dubas.

He noted that the National Bank of Ukraine has allowed the use of modern technological solutions, in particular QR codes, which contain all the necessary details for payment.

“All these details can be programmed into a QR code. The entrepreneur provides the buyer with a QR code, the customer scans it, and their bank's app automatically opens on their phone with the details already filled in. All that remains is to enter the amount or confirm it,” said the President of the AUB.

According to Andriy Dubas, the funds are credited almost instantly.

“The maximum time for such a payment is up to 10 seconds, but in practice, the average is one to two seconds. The entrepreneur sees the funds in their account almost immediately,” he emphasized.

The key difference in the new payment model is the elimination of the mandatory use of bank cards and payment terminals, which reduces business costs.

“Previously, in order to accept payments, you needed to have a card from a specific bank and a terminal. With card payments, transactions often went through international payment systems, even though the seller and buyer were located in the same city,” said Andriy Dubas.

He emphasized that instant payments between Ukrainian bank accounts allow businesses to avoid additional fees.

“Funds will be transferred directly from a Ukrainian bank account to another Ukrainian bank account. This significantly reduces costs for businesses, as there is no need to pay interchange fees or maintain payment terminals,” explained the President of the AUB.

According to him, the introduction of instant payments was the result of joint efforts by the regulator and financial market participants.

“This is a decision of the National Bank. The Association of Ukrainian Banks and our members — banks and financial companies — actively participated in the development of these resolutions. Behind these simple solutions for customers lies a lot of work in terms of security, regulation, and technology,” he said.

Andriy Dubas also stressed that the development of the instant payment system is part of Ukraine's European integration commitments.

“Instant payments have been operating in Europe for a long time. For us, this is also one of the requirements for European integration, and we are now additionally synchronizing Ukrainian processes with European ones,” concluded the President of the Association of Ukrainian Banks.