Financial sector news

The European Business Association recently held an industry event, “Cashless Day 2025: European Integration Track,” dedicated to the development of the cashless payments market in Ukraine and its readiness to join the European payment area.

During the event, Oleksiy Shaban, Deputy Head of the National Bank, spoke about the regulator's technological priorities, in particular the development of open banking and payment infrastructure based on the ISO 20022 standard.
He said that the draft laws necessary for Ukraine's accession to SEPA have already been developed and are awaiting submission to Parliament. Once they are adopted, the NBU will prepare the necessary package of documents and, upon approval by the Government, will be able to submit the relevant application to the European Payments Council.

The banking system has already begun preparations for connecting to the SEPA payment infrastructure, but banks can only begin technical work after Ukraine's application has been approved by the European Payments Council.

Regarding the implementation of EU Regulation No. 751, Oleksiy Shaban noted that in the process of European integration, Ukraine is obliged to harmonize its legislation on interbank commissions with European legislation. The Ukrainian government's negotiating position is that this regulation should be implemented in Ukraine by the end of 2027. The National Bank is working on proposals for amendments to the Payment Services Act, which it plans to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers in the first quarter of 2026.