In 2018, the System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine fully covered the needs of the domestic banking system for hryvnia interbank transfers. The system functioned in a reliable and stable manner.
In 2018, 357 million of initial payments totaling UAH 25 trillion were made through the SEP, up 7.5% and 19%, respectively, from 332 million initial payments and UAH 21 trillion in 2017.
A vast majority (93%) of all initial payments in 2018 were sent to the system by Ukrainian banks and their branches.
On an average day in 2018, the SEP processed 1.4 million initial payments in the amount of UAH 101 billion. At the same time, the system is capable of processing close to 10 million payments during one banking day.
The structure of payments in the system in 2018 shows that:
in terms of number, small payments were processed most often:
- under UAH 1,000 – 53%
- between UAH 1,000 and UAH 100,000 – 43%
- over UAH 100,000 – 4%
in terms of amount, most payments were large:
- under UAH 1,000 – less than 1%
- between UAH 1,000 and UAH 100,000 – 7%
- over UAH 100,000 – 92%
In August 2018, the SEP marked its 25th anniversary. The system’s further development is an ongoing process that includes bringing the SEP in line with existing international standards of financial messaging and implementing innovative instruments of cashless transfers. In addition, one of the priorities in modernizing the SEP is to implement instant payments, lay the groundwork for 24/7 operation, fully update the NBU’s system for cryptographic information security, and expand the functionality and information content of messages.
For reference
The SEP is a state banking payment system for interbank money transfers through NBU correspondent accounts.
The NBU is the payment institution and settlement bank of the SEP. The SEP is the single systemically important payment system in Ukraine. It handles over 97% of all hryvnia-denominated interbank transfers within Ukraine.
As of 1 January 2019, 79 banks, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, and the NBU were SEP participants.