Nationalized Sense Bank (Kyiv) and FUIB (Kyiv) note the demand for the buy now pay later (BNPL) service, which differs from traditional bank installment plans, and allow its introduction in Ukraine in the near future.
“We think that the client has a request for such a product as a purely European BNPL. (…) Therefore, we are now working with two fintechs, studying this model together with them and the possibility of joining them, because they have just implemented the European BNPL model,” said Inna Tiutiun, a member of the Sense board, at the Digital Lending 2024 conference initiated by the Ukrainian Association of Fintech and Innovation Companies (UAFIC) in Kyiv.
FUIB’s Deputy Chairman of the Board Dmytro Polishchuk, for his part, noted that there is “definitely a demand for the service.”
“And the most important thing is that when we talk about BNPL or installment payments, etc., we forget that the key client of this story is the merchant. (…) There is a very high demand from large retailers for this model, so if there is demand, there will always be a supply,” the banker added.
“I think that this year either we or Sense (Bank – IF-U) or someone else … one of us will show something this year. Because there are a lot of ideas, research, experience and a desire to try, because no one in Ukraine has actually tried this (implementation of the BNPL service – IF-U),” suggested Polishchuk.
According to him, FUIB has already tested a large number of customer experiences with full-fledged BNPL models, in particular, the bank’s team has worked out the legal component, which raised certain questions.
“(…) because in fact, BNPL in its purest form is the provision of a short-term loan to a non-bank customer and without onboarding in Diia, BankID, identification, passports. That is, it is not actually a loan, but a payment method with a certain installment plan for several weeks,” explained FUIB’s Deputy Chairman of the Board.
“We are very positive about this story. I think that this year there will be surprises in Ukraine (in the financial services market – IF-U),” the banker summarized.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of February 1, 2024, Sens Bank ranked 8th (UAH 131.89 billion) among 63 banks operating in the country in terms of total assets, while FUIB ranked 6th (UAH 158.86 billion). Sense Bank was among the three leaders in terms of net profit for 2023, it amounted to UAH 5.04 billion, while FUIB’s net profit was UAH 3.96 billion.
