The overhaul of the National System for Mass Electronic Payments (hereinafter – the NSMEP) is one of the main areas of focus of the Strategic Program for the Development of Cashless Retail Payments for 2012 – 2014.
Speaking at a press conference, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Ihor Sorkin said: "Guided by the objectives set out in the Program, the National Bank of Ukraine has upgraded the national payment system based on open international standards and established the Central routing gateway and the clearing house, which is a technology platform for processing interbank card transactions. It is designed to handle domestic transactions carried out with the use of NSMEP cards. According to statistics, domestic transactions account for 93% of all the transactions performed with the use of payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks."
Another step taken by the National Bank to upgrade the national payment system will reduce the size of the shadow economy and bring down the cash handling costs. "The most important thing is the nation's economic security. This system will become more secured, user-friendly and cost efficient," Mr. Ihor Sorkin concluded.
The services of the Central routing gateway and the clearing house will be offered to all the banks participating in the NSMEP.
The upgraded national retail payment system will enable the government to streamline its social policy. This will make it possible to introduce personal identification in the social sphere, ensure better targeting of social benefits, and use the card as a means of payment.
The National Bank of Ukraine pursues a consistent policy aimed at promoting cashless payments based on card and other payment technologies. In the first three quarters of 2013, the share of cashless payments had increased almost twice as compared with 2011, accounting for 16.7% of the total value of transactions.
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As of today, the NSMEP has 59 member banks (42% of all the banks participating in the payment systems) and the Ukrainian National Postal Operator "Ukrposhta". Four more banks are going through some formalities to join the NSMEP. The full list of the NSMEP participants is available on the website of the National Bank of Ukraine.