System of Electronic Payments

The National Bank of Ukraine has created a national electronic payment system called SEP to process the hryvnia settlements between the banks and clients within Ukraine. The NBU is the payment system operator and settlement bank for SEP.

SEP ensures secure and reliable transfers of funds between the banks.

SEP services 97% of interbank payments in Ukraine which makes it the systemically important payment system in Ukraine.

SEP is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS international classification). SEP allows payments in one of two modes: real time and batch mode.

In the real-time mode, funds are credited to a receiving bank’s account instantly, while in the batch mode, a payment from a remitting bank to a receiving bank may take 10 to 20 minutes on average.

The NBU, Ukrainian banks, and the State Treasury Service of Ukraine are participants of SEP.

SEP processes 1.4 million payments per day on average, valued at UAH 412 billion. However, SEP processing potential is much higher: the system is capable of processing almost 10 times more transactions.

Legislation

The fundamental law defining the terms and the general procedure for executing payment transactions as well as operation of payment systems is the Law of Ukraine On Payment Services.

This law prescribes that SEP is the state-owned system of interbank settlements, and the NBU is the payment system operator and the settlement bank for SEP.

SEP operating procedure is defined by the National Bank of Ukraine.

Regulations

SEP rules

Regulations and technical documents on SEP operation:

Rates on services (operations) provided (performed) by the National Bank of Ukraine within the system of electronic payments and within the field of settlement and cash services are approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 333 of 12 August 2003 registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine under No. 784/8105 on 10 September 2003, as amended;

Regulation On the Interbank Money Transfer in Ukraine in Domestic Currency During Special Period approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 576 dated 23 December 2003 registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine under No. 39/8638 on 14 January 2004, as amended;

Instruction No. 163 On Cashless Payments in Domestic Currency in Ukraine approved by NBU Board Resolution dated 29 July 2022;

Regulation On Operation of Information Systems of the National Bank of Ukraine and Banks during Special Period approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 175 dated 21 April 2004 registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine under No. 618/9217 dated 17 May 2004 (as amended by the NBU Board Resolution No. 39 on 2 February 2009), as amended;

Regulation On Ensuring the Continuous Operation of Information Systems of the National Bank of Ukraine and Banks of Ukraine approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 265 dated 17 June 2004 registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine under No.857/9456 on 9 July 2004, as amended;

Instruction On the Interbank Money Transfers in Ukraine in Domestic Currency approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 320 dated 16 August 2006 registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine under No. 1035/12909 on 6 September 2006, as amended;

Instruction On Emergency Operation of the Banking System approved by NBU Board Resolution No. 435 dated 22 July 2014 (as amended by NBU Board Resolution No. 349 dated 24 June 2016);

NBU Board Resolution No. 829 On Approval of Regulations on Information Security dated 26 November 2015;

Operating Procedure for the System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine;

Interface description between SAB and NBU SEP.

What is the System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine (SEP)?

The System of Electronic Payments of the National Bank of Ukraine (SEP) is a systemically important payment system, which was developed by the NBU to enable interbank money transfers in the domestic currency within Ukraine via accounts opened with the NBU.

What is the deadline for payment transactions between banks?

Міжбанківська операція виконується банками протягом операційного дня, в який платіжна інструкція прийнята до виконання, якщо інший строк не встановлено договором або законодавством України.

Операційний день – день, протягом якого надавач платіжних послуг платника або надавач платіжних послуг отримувача, залучений до виконання платіжної операції, здійснює свою діяльність, необхідну для виконання платіжних операцій.

What document provides for the terms of participating in, joining, and quitting SEP?

Інструкція про виконання міжбанківських платіжних операцій в Україні в національній валюті, затверджена постановою Правління Національного банку України від 16.08.2006 № 320, зареєстрована в Міністерстві юстиції України 06.09.2006 за № 1035/12909 зі змінами.