Pensioners who have switched their pension payments to mono will receive 1,000 UAH, after taxes, by the end of the year, according to Monobank co-founder Oleg Gorokhovsky.
“And as soon as they receive their first pension on a mono card, we’ll credit 1,000 UAH to their cashback account. We’ll cover the tax as well. In addition, we’re adding a ‘Medical’ category with 5% cashback for the year,” he noted.
Gorokhovsky emphasized that, according to the law, pensions can be received on a card from the bank of the pensioner’s choice.
As of July 1, 2026, there are 9.98 million pensioners in Ukraine, according to data from the Pension Fund. Eighty-three percent of pensioners—approximately 8.3 million people—receive their payments through banking institutions. The remaining 17% continue to receive their payments through Ukrposhta branches and mail carriers.
Iryna Starominska, Chairwoman of the Board of JSC “UNIVERSAL BANK,” was named the winner of the “Financier of the Year” category as part of the 30th anniversary nationwide “Person of the Year 2025” program.
Starominska has over 25 years of professional experience, the last 16 of which she has spent in leadership roles in the banking sector. She has headed Universal Bank since 2017.
One of the bank’s key projects during this period was the 2017 launch, in collaboration with the Fintech Band team, of the digital banking service monobank, which operates under Universal Bank’s banking license.
As of early June 2026, the monobank ecosystem had over 10.7 million customers, making it one of Ukraine’s largest digital financial services. The project has also been included twice in CNBC’s “Top 250 Fintech Companies in the World” ranking.
The development of monobank has become one of the most notable examples of the transformation of the Ukrainian banking market, where traditional banking infrastructure has been combined with remote services and mobile financial technologies.
Universal Bank is listed among Ukraine’s systemically important banks. According to information provided by the organizers of the “Person of the Year” program, as of the end of 2025, the bank ranked third in Ukraine in terms of retail deposits and second in terms of its retail loan portfolio, and was also among the top five most profitable Ukrainian banks.
For five years, Starominska has also been ranked among the most influential women in Ukraine’s fintech sector. In her management role, she focuses on the development of digital banking services, the automation of operations, and the implementation of technological solutions for retail customers.
Charitable and social projects remain a separate area of activity for Universal Bank and monobank. According to data provided by the award organizers, from the start of the full-scale invasion through April 2026, the total amount of charitable aid provided by the bank and its team exceeded 497 million UAH.
Of this amount, approximately 386 million UAH was allocated to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military units, and charitable foundations that assist the army. Another approximately 111 million UAH was allocated to cultural and social projects. The bank also participates in charitable initiatives alongside the UNITED24 fundraising platform and other foundations.
Universal Bank operates in the Ukrainian banking market as a universal financial institution serving both individuals and businesses. Since 2017, the bank has been a partner of Fintech Band in the development of monobank. The bank is part of the TAS Group and is included in the list of systemically important banks in Ukraine.
Open4Business is an information partner of the nationwide “Person of the Year 2025” program.
BANK, FINANCE, FINTECH, MONOBANK, UKRAINE, UNIVERSAL BANK, Старомінська
Banks with Ukrainian private capital earned 9.7 billion UAH in net profit during the first half of 2026, with just two banks—Universal Bank and PUMB—accounting for approximately 72% of this group’s total profit, according to data released on August 19 by Opendatabot.
Universal Bank, under whose banking license monobank operates, earned 3.85 billion UAH, while PUMB earned 3.12 billion UAH. Both institutions ranked among the top five most profitable banks in Ukraine for the first six months of the year.
Universal Bank significantly improved its performance compared to the same period in 2025, when its net profit was 2.41 billion UAH. The bank rose from ninth to second place in the all-Ukrainian profitability ranking.
In total, 30 profitable privately owned banks earned 9.86 billion UAH, while nine unprofitable institutions in this group posted a combined net loss of 161.78 million UAH. Privately owned banks’ income tax expenses totaled 9.87 billion UAH.
By comparison, 15 banks with foreign capital generated 11.91 billion UAH in net profit, or 22% of the entire banking system’s total profit. Among them, Raiffeisen Bank posted the highest profit in the first half of the year—3.57 billion UAH—followed by OTP Bank with 1.91 billion UAH, UkrSibbank with 1.85 billion UAH, Citibank with 1.68 billion UAH, and Credit Agricole Bank with 1.53 billion UAH. All five made it into the overall top 10.
Of the 15 banks with foreign capital, 13 ended the first half of the year with a profit. Pravex Bank and the transitional bank UTE Bank posted a combined loss of about 43 million UAH.
The digital bank monobank has eliminated fees for all incoming and outgoing international SWIFT payments for individual and business customers, according to the project’s co-founder, Oleg Gorokhovsky.
“Previously, a SWIFT transfer cost users an average of about 1,000 UAH in fees,” he wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.
According to Gorokhovsky, such payments are currently important for businesses due to the possibility of cheaper procurement, and for individuals—to pay for education, medical treatment, and military equipment.
He added that the bank earned over 11 million UAH per year from these fees.
monobank is a branchless mobile bank founded in January 2017 by former PrivatBank top managers Oleg Gorokhovsky, Dmytro Dubilet, and Mykhailo Rogalsky. The project operates under the banking license of Universal Bank, which is part of the TAS Group (Kyiv).
According to the National Bank, as of April 1, 2026, Universal Bank had issued a total of 29.42 million cards, of which 10.17 million were used for transactions during the month.
From now on, payments to IBAN from personal funds are free of charge in the virtual monobank, according to the project’s co-founder Oleg Gorokhovsky.
“We are now removing this fee. All IBAN payments from personal funds in mono are free of charge starting today,” Gorokhovsky wrote on Telegram on Monday.
According to him, IBAN payment rates at monobank have not changed since 2017. Previously, transfers to IBAN for amounts up to UAH 10,000 were free, and for amounts over UAH 10,000, a commission of 0.5% was charged from own funds.
As Gorokhovsky noted, the income from this commission exceeded UAH 200 million per year.
The branchless mobile bank monobank was founded in January 2017 by former PrivatBank top managers Gorokhovsky, Dmytro Dubilet, and Mykhailo Rogalsky. It operates under the license of Universal Bank, which is part of the TAS Group (Kyiv) and currently serves 10.42 million customers, according to its own data.
According to the National Bank, as of the beginning of 2026, Universal Bank had issued a total of 28.22 million cards, of which 10.50 million were used for transactions during the month.
Monobank has launched a new service called Monobazar, which allows customers to sell their own items within the app, according to the bank’s co-founder Oleg Gorokhovsky.
“We are launching a beta version of monoBazar, a simple service within monoMarket where customers can sell their items. The feature is already available, and we are opening testing to everyone,” Gorokhovsky wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday.
According to him, the service has three main advantages: the ability to purchase goods in parts, verification of all sellers through the monobank system, and the creation of a personal showcase that users can share on social networks or send to friends.
The post notes that monoBazar has a number of additional features. In particular, a built-in AI model can automatically generate a detailed description of the product based on a short text provided by the user. An automated trading format has also been implemented: the buyer can offer their price, and the seller makes a decision without the need for correspondence.
According to the co-founder of monobank, the seller receives the funds only after the buyer picks up the parcel from the post office. If the buyer refuses the product, the money is automatically returned to the buyer and the product is returned to the seller.
The service is available in the monobank app in the “Market” section.
The service commission is 0.1% until January 8 during testing, after which it is planned to increase to 1.9%, with the buyer paying the additional cost of delivery.
Gorokhovsky also noted that until January 8, users can sell items for charity: in this case, the amount is transferred to the “Charter” fund, and monobank doubles the contribution.
As reported, the virtual monobank, created by Fintech Band LLC on the basis of Universal Bank, currently ranks second in the market in terms of the number of cards. According to the NBU, as of October 1, 2025, Universal Bank had issued a total of 25.45 million cards, of which almost 9.85 million were used for transactions during the month.
Currently, OLX is the largest player in the Ukrainian market of digital platforms for selling items.
