The volume of transactions with payment cards of Ukrainian banks in Ukraine and abroad in the second quarter of 2023 amounted to UAH 1.335 trillion, which is 27.7% less than in the first quarter of this year, when a 9% decline was also recorded compared to the previous quarter.
According to the National Bank’s statistics released on Monday, while in the first quarter a larger decline was recorded in cash withdrawals – 14%, while non-cash transactions decreased by only 6.7%, in the second quarter the situation changed: cash withdrawals decreased by 11%, while non-cash transactions decreased by 35.2%.
As a result, the volume of cash withdrawals amounted to UAH 505.4 billion, while non-cash transactions amounted to UAH 829.5 billion, which broke the upward trend in the share of non-cash transactions by volume that had been going on for several years: it fell to 62.1% from 69.4% in the first quarter of this year, dropping immediately below the level of 2021.
The number of transactions with payment cards in the second quarter of this year fell by 13% to 1.843 billion compared to the first quarter. At the same time, the number of cash withdrawals increased by 4% to 132.3 million, while non-cash transactions fell by 14.1% to 1.711 billion.
The National Bank specified that within Ukraine in the second quarter, the volume of cash receipts decreased to UAH 487.8 billion from UAH 501.8 billion in the first quarter, while the volume of non-cash transactions increased to UAH 329.4 billion from UAH 285.7 billion.
In April-June, the number of cash withdrawals in Ukraine increased to 129.7 million from 119.4 million in the first quarter, while non-cash transactions increased from 943.8 million to 1 billion 166.1 million.
According to the NBU, most card transactions by amount and number were made in the retail network (46.4% and 72.6%, respectively). There were 1,242.5 million transactions worth UAH 385.2 billion.
In the second quarter of 2023, card-to-card transfers accounted for a third of the total (32.1%) and almost a tenth by number (8.5%), while payments for goods and services on the Internet accounted for 14.9% by amount and 14.6% by number.
In the reporting period, the average amount of one transaction was UAH 310 (UAH 344 in the first quarter of this year), UAH 1,829 (UAH 2,133) for card-to-card transfers, and UAH 495 (UAH 460) for online payments.
The number of active pos-terminals in the retail and service networks in June increased by 8.3% to 388.1 thousand units, and the number of points of sale and service outlets accepting payment cards increased by 12.2% to 355.9 thousand units.
The ATM network has also been showing a recovery trend since the beginning of the year: the number of ATMs increased by 1.2% to 15.8 thousand since the beginning of the year.
As of June 2023, the total number of issued payment cards in Ukraine reached 110.3 million, which is 1% more than in January this year, including the number of active payment cards with which monthly expenditure transactions were made, which increased by 3% to 47.2 million.
The NBU noted that the total number of contactless payment cards continues to grow: their number in June this year increased by 5% compared to January, and now more than half (57%) of active payment cards in June are contactless cards.
Tokenized payment cards are also popular among Ukrainians, as they provide greater security for payments: their number has increased by 14% since the beginning of the year to 9.7 million, and now their share among all active cards is 21%, compared to 19% in January 2023.
“As a result, only a tenth of transactions (10.6% by amount and 9.4% by number) in the second quarter of this year were carried out in the retail network with physical reading of data from the card carrier. In the first quarter of 2023, the share of such transactions was 12.4% and 11.1%, respectively,” the NBU said.
Businessman Yegor Levchenko promises real payments for drug traffickers and a clear plan to combat illegal distribution. He is the man behind the high-profile campaign “Catch a drug dealer – get cash“.
The campaign starts on May 1, when the entire system goes live.
Levchenko told blogger Stas Dombrovsky about who he will pay money to and how he plans to defeat the drug business in Ukraine.
“I have nothing to do with politics or the government,” said Levchenko in the interview. He is currently doing business abroad and has the opportunity to finance projects for Ukraine.
“I have nothing to do with politics or the government as such. By the way, I’ve talked about my business before, and it’s focused purely on the IT sector. It is a network of companies in different countries. We are engaged in lead generation – in simple terms, attracting customers for our clients. We attract traffic to a variety of websites, mainly betting and casinos. We are also engaged in traffic arbitrage – for small lead generation companies, we work as a “filter” – we resell the traffic generated by them for clients. And so on,” Levchenko said in his first detailed interview.
For several months, while the announcement of the “Catch the Huckster” campaign was making the rounds across the country, its initiator and main sponsor remained in the shadows. Today, Yegor Levchenko says he is ready to finance the campaign as long as it takes. And as long as the performance of the Department for Combating Drugs does not at least double.
“I’m not going to hide my soul, I’m doing this for the country and for myself. I am tired of hearing that I am involved in the drug trade. With this action, I want to show that I am ready not only to refute this nonsense, but also to eradicate this plague. And yes, I am ready to take such radical and expensive measures as the “catch the huckster” campaign,” Levchenko told Stas Dombrovsky. The businessman assures that there is no limit to the amount of money he is willing to invest in the campaign. And he immediately revealed the details of how the whole scheme will work.
The promotion will start on May 1. Participants will be able to earn money and play the so-called “roulette”. One thousand dollars will be awarded to the person who helps catch a pawnbroker or trafficker who is found by the police to be in possession of drugs in “particularly large amounts.” The smaller the seized weight, the smaller the payout. The next step is five hundred dollars, and for even smaller amounts, two hundred dollars. Levchenko has already posted a table of what is considered “large” and “especially large” amounts by law on the website.
The money will be paid in hryvnia, at the NBU exchange rate at the time of detention. To do this, anyone can come to the nearest police station and write a statement against the pawnbroker or trafficker they have found. The organizers of the action then need to provide a copy of the statement, a video of the moment it was written in the police station, and an extract from the URPTI on the initiation of criminal proceedings.
As soon as the pawnbroker is taken in, Levchenko says, the participant will immediately receive money from the Fund.
It will not be possible to make money with the help of fakes, the businessman warned. A staff of lawyers will strictly check all information.
There are special conditions for those who are ready to hand over a drug production laboratory. The organizers of “Catch the Huckster” are targeting large laboratories that produce ten kilograms or more of illegal substances. In an interview with Dombrovsky, the patron promises ten thousand dollars for a laboratory that produces ten to thirty kilograms of drugs. For volumes of thirty kilograms or more, he will pay twenty-five thousand dollars.
Levchenko invited police officers to participate in the campaign. They can do it unofficially through their friends, Levchenko says. But he still expects the main attention to come from the police authorities and large cities. All actions of the participants and organizers will be exclusively within the law, the philanthropist said. The organizers of the “Catch a Bribe” campaign are ready to work under round-the-clock law enforcement supervision.
At the same time, Levchenko is confident that his experience and ideas can actually not only help fight the spread of dangerous drugs, but also actually minimize the trade. “I am sure that officials and the leadership of the National Police and the State Service of Ukraine for Health and Safety will notice our action and realize that there is no fraud or scam here. I would like them to start cooperating with us. I have specific ideas that, if implemented as a whole, with our campaign and the work of the police, could, in a fairly short time, if not eradicate the problem completely, then deal a serious blow to both trade and production. It is possible, I know how to do it.”
State-owned PrivatBank (Kyiv) raised limit on cash withdrawal at ATMs of its network for foreign cards and cards of other banks up to UAH 20 thousand per a transaction once in three hours since November 23, press-service of financial institution informed on Thursday.
“The increase in card cash-out limits for all Ukrainian and foreign banks will allow clients of all banks to access cash when necessary,” said PrivatBank board member for retail business Dmitry Musienko, quoted by the press service.
He added that at the moment there are more than 5 thousand ATMs in the network of PrivatBank in all regions of Ukraine.
The press service of the bank specified to Interfax-Ukraine news agency that previously the limit on withdrawal at PrivatBank ATMs of foreign and foreign cards was 10 thousand UAH.
ATMs, CASH, LIMIT, PRIVATBANK
On October 3, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) will conduct another exchange of non-cash currency for cash to reinforce banks’ cash desks, the regulator’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
“On Monday, October 3, the NBU will once again carry out operations to exchange cash for non-cash currency. $100 million and EUR100 million will be offered for the exchange of a systemically important bank. The results of the operations will be made public on the day they are carried out,” the report says.
The press service noted that the previous activities of the bank had already had a positive effect, in particular, the number of banks participating in the relevant operations decreased, and the balances of foreign currency in cash in the system increased.
As reported, on September 7, the National Bank exchanged $100 million in cash for non-cash to banks, on September 12 – $100 million and EUR72 million, on September 19 and 27 – $100 million and EUR20 million each.
The regulator clarified that the operations of exchanging non-cash currency for cash will be carried out as long as it is necessary. The results of the relevant transactions will be published on the day of the transaction on Facebook and Telegram.
The NBU noted that such operations will not affect international reserves.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has increased from UAH 50,000 to UAH 100,000 (equivalent) the monthly limit on the purchase of non-cash foreign currency by citizens with subsequent placement on an irrevocable deposit for at least three months.
“Such changes will further reorient the demand of the population from foreign cash to non-cash, because transactions for the sale of non-cash currency by banks are carried out at a rate closer to the official than for the sale of cash, more convenient and safer,” the NBU website said on Friday.
As reported, with the outbreak of war on February 24, the National Bank banned the sale of non-cash currency to citizens, and on July 21 partially allowed it – up to UAH 50,000 per month on an irrevocable deposit of three months.
The Central Bank of Malta and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) have launched a program for Ukrainian refugees to exchange hryvnia for euros since August 1, the NBU press service reported.
According to the report, Ukrainians who have a certificate of protection from the International Protection Agency in Malta will be able to exchange up to UAH 10,000 for one person.
Banknotes from UAH 100 to UAH 1,000 are accepted for exchange.
As reported, the hryvnia cash exchange program has already been launched in Poland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
