In 2019, the System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine (SEP) functioned in a reliable and stable manner, covering all the needs of the domestic banking system for hryvnia interbank transfers.
In 2019, 384 million initial payments totaling over UAH 32 trillion were made through the SEP, up 7.5% and 28%, respectively, from 357 million initial payments and UAH 25 trillion in 2018.
On an average day in 2019, the SEP processed 1.5 million initial payments in the amount of UAH 130 billion. At the same time, the system is capable of processing close to 10 million payments during one banking day.
A vast majority (93%) of all initial payments in 2019 were sent to the system by Ukrainian banks and their branches.
The structure of payments in the system in 2019 shows that:
in terms of number, small payments were processed most often:
- under UAH 1,000 – 51%
- UAH 1,000 – UAH 100,000 – 45%
- over UAH 100,000 – 4%
in terms of amount, most payments were large:
- under UAH 1,000 – less than 1%
- UAH 1,000 – UAH 100,000 – 6%
- over UAH 100,000 – 93%.
The NBU continues to modernize SEP. Starting from April 2020, the conversion of the SEP to extended operating mode 23/7 has been scheduled. The international standard ISO 20022 is intended to be introduced in the mid-term for local payments in domestic currency, shifting to 24/7 operation mode, and developing and introducing new functionality.
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 only systemically important payment system in Ukraine. It handles about 96% of all hryvnia-denominated interbank transfers within Ukraine.
As of 1 January 2020, 75 banks, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine, and the NBU were SEP participants.