In the first nine months of 2024, businesses and households actively made credit and debit transfers. During the period, over 2.7 billion payment transactions were executed that were initiated as credit transfers and direct debits.
Statistical Data on Credit and Debit Transfers
All of Ukraine’s 62 banks and one non-bank financial institution are servicing payment transactions initiated using credit transfers and direct debits by households and businesses.
Specifically, in the first nine months of 2024, they made 1.2 million direct-debit-based payment transactions worth a total of UAH 27.26 billion.
Payment transactions with the use of credit transfers were more common. Here is a breakdown of such transactions by number and volume, based on data for the first nine months of this year:
- within Ukraine — 2,718.8 million transactions, totaling almost UAH 30,823 billion
- to Ukraine — 3.80 million, worth the equivalent of USD 50.84 billion
- from Ukraine — 0.92 million, the equivalent of USD 54.82 billion.
Transfers within Ukraine
In the first nine months of 2024, the largest number of within-Ukraine credit-transfer-based payment transactions originated from the accounts of individuals: 2,344.6 million, or 86.24% of all such payment transactions.
By volume, however, the majority of such payments were made from the accounts of businesses: UAH 27,841.71 billion, or 90.33% of the total amount.
Cross-Border Transactions
During this period, 55.21% of the total number of credit-transfer-based payments were sent from abroad to individuals in Ukraine. In terms of the volume of Ukraine-bound payments, businesses also led the way: 93.96% of the total amount of credit-transfer-based payments were made to businesses (under foreign economic agreements). The largest amount of funds came to Ukraine from EU countries (44.70%), Switzerland (22.14%), and the United States (11.75%).
The largest volume of credit-transfer-based payments from Ukraine to other countries was generated by businesses (under foreign economic agreements): 0.80 million, the equivalent of USD 54.69 billion. This represents 87.1% and 99.75% of the total number and volume of such payments, respectively. By region, the most funds went to EU countries (60.75%), Switzerland (10.29%), and China (5.12%).
Please note that the NBU has commenced publishing information on the volume of transactions made with payment instruments such as credit transfers and direct debits. The gathering of such data was officially introduced last year.
Using these instruments, businesses and households make both domestic and cross-border (into and out of Ukraine) transfers, including for settlements in international trade (exports/imports of goods and services).
The introduction of such reporting is in line with the approaches taken by the ECB and the world’s other leading central banks. This effort makes it possible to implement in Ukraine the EU’s cutting-edge methods for estimating the volume of payment transactions [both card-based ones and those initiated directly from user accounts with no cards involved (i.e. credit transfers and direct debits)].
The Law of Ukraine On Payment Services took effect on 1 August 2022. It defines the use of the following types of payment instruments:
- credit transfer is used to execute the payer’s request to make a funds transfer from their account within a bank or a non-bank financial institution or between banks or non-bank financial institutions
- direct debit is used to execute the debiting of funds from the payer’s account at the request of the funds’ recipient within a bank or non-bank financial institution or between banks or non-bank financial institutions
- electronic means of payment (primarily regular payment cards).