The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has approved the application of the international bank account number (IBAN) in Ukraine starting from 2019, the central bank has reported on its website.
The decision is outlined in NBU Board resolution No. 162 dated January 28, 2018 on the introduction of IBAN.
According to the new standard, the valid account numbers for clients will be supplemented with the country code and the bank code. According to the NBU, it will simplify the identification of the payer and the recipient of funds, as well as the bank of Ukraine, which settles payments, it will allow avoiding errors in the account details by reducing the details in the settlement documents, and will accelerate the transfer of funds.
As the National Bank said, from April 1, 2019, banks will open new IBAN accounts to customers, and banks will change their current account numbers from April 1 through October 31, 2019, in accordance with the requirements of the new standard, while maintaining the current number of analytical accounting. In the period from April 1 through October 31, 2019, bank customers can indicate both a valid account number and a bank code, and a number in the IBAN standard in the details of payment documents.
In addition, the use of IBAN will become mandatory for customers of all banks of Ukraine in the implementation of money transfers, both in national and in foreign currencies, including cross border transfers. That is, all transfers will be carried out exclusively using IBAN.
According to the National Bank, the application of the new standard will harmonize the Ukrainian payment space with the European one, and will contribute to the further planned modernization of the Electronic Payment System of the central bank.
The use of IBAN in the future will also make it possible to use QR codes that will contain information on IBAN, to simplify the payment of bills and exchange with payment information.
