In 2019, the National Bank of Ukraine (the NBU) will introduce the International Bank Account Number IBAN which will enable harmonization of the Ukrainian payment area with the European one. Also, IBAN implementation will foster further scheduled modernization of the NBU’s System of Electronic Payments.
Starting from 1 April 2019, banks will open new accounts for their customers under the IBAN standard, whereas from 1 April 2019 through 31 October 2019 banks will change the existing bank accounts individually under this standard preserving the existing numbers for analytical accounting. Therefore, a country code and a bank code will be added to the existing bank account numbers for customers. In the period from 1 April 2019 through 31 October 2019, bank customers will be able to give details in payment documents including either the existing account number and bank code or IBAN number.
Using IBAN number will become obligatory for all Ukrainian banks for money transfers in the domestic and foreign currencies, including cross-border transfers. In other words, all transfers will be conducted only with the use of IBAN numbers.
As a result, bank customers will be able to:
- identify the payer and the receiver of funds as well as their servicing Ukrainian bank in an easy and convinient way
- avoid mistakes in bank account details due to the reduced details in the payment documents
- send and receive money faster.
Among other benefits, use of IBAN numbers in the future will enable the use of QR codes that contain information on IBAN to simplify payments of invoices and exchange of payment information.
In general, the use of IBAN standard with fewer payment details should simplify the execution of payment documents.
Respective provisions are detailed in NBU Board Resolution No.162 On Implementation of the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) in Ukraine dated 28 January 2018.
For reference
A standardized system of the bank account is a necessary element of the effective banking environment in every country which fosters efficient processing of settlements. In the EU countries it is IBAN.
Each state defines the structure of an IBAN number under the requirements of ISO 13616 standard.
Ukrainian banks will create bank account numbers pursuant to the national standard of Ukraine “Financial transactions. Rules for creating international bank account numbers (IBAN) in Ukraine. (IBAN Registry: 2009, NEQ) ДСТУ-Н 7167:2010”, approved by Order No. 454 of the State Committee of Ukraine for Technical Regulation and Consumer Policy dated 11 October 2010.
For Ukraine IBAN consists of 29 alphanumeric characters, comprising the country code, a check digit, a bank code, and an account number.
As a result of IBAN implementation it will become possible to immediately identify the country of the settlement participant (UA – Ukraine) while the check digit will ensure the unified check of the customer’s account and its validity.