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
According to Fixygen, the line between traditional banks and the crypto industry is rapidly blurring. In March 2026, Kraken Financial received a Federal Reserve master account, becoming the first digital bank with direct access to the U.S. payment infrastructure.
Kraken already operates as a special-purpose bank in Wyoming and, at the same time, holds over 100 active regulatory licenses in more than 30 countries.
On the other hand, traditional banks are exploring the possibility of issuing their own stablecoins and tokenized deposits. JPMorgan is studying the possibility of issuing a stablecoin, and similar projects are being discussed by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and other banks.
Even crypto companies are beginning to obtain federal banking licenses: in August, the U.S. OCC granted World Liberty Financial preliminary approval to establish a national trust bank to handle stablecoins and store assets.
As a result, in a few years, the distinction between a “bank” and a “crypto exchange” may no longer be defined by the range of services offered.
Both sides aim to provide services such as asset custody, payments, stablecoins, trading, tokenized securities, credit products, and international settlements.
The main battle will center on who can keep customers within their own financial infrastructure—JPMorgan, Coinbase, Kraken, or the new digital banks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has submitted two bills to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration aimed at tightening penalties for organizing fraudulent call centers and participating in their activities, as well as providing additional, substantial protection for people against illegal actions involving payment instruments and bank accounts.
“Penalties for fraudulent call centers must be clear and severe—not only for those who carry out the work at these call centers, but also for those who organize them, profit from them, and own them. The first bill provides for exactly that,” Zelenskyy emphasized, commenting on the bills on his Telegram channel.
According to the president, the bills also provide for the introduction of stricter liability for organizing fraudulent schemes involving banking instruments, in particular so-called “drops.”
“At the level of internal regulation of the banking system, there must be appropriate steps and changes to algorithms that will give banks more opportunities to protect the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and businesses and prevent the use of accounts for tax evasion or the laundering of funds from illegal activities. At the legislative level, we will create the necessary framework to counter the organizers of fraudulent schemes involving bank accounts and payment instruments,” Zelenskyy explained.
He added that this same bill aims to implement European Union legal standards in Ukraine, as provided for in agreements with partners.
BANK, BILL, call center, fraud, UKRAINE
According to Fixygen, U.S. banks—which until recently were warning about the threat stablecoins pose to the deposit system—are now exploring the possibility of issuing digital dollars themselves.
JPMorgan views a stablecoin as a complement to its existing JPM Coin tokenized bank deposit system, according to the Wall Street Journal.
At the same time, more than a dozen banks are discussing a shared infrastructure for issuing digital currencies. Bank of America and Wells Fargo are among the participants.
The reason is simple: if a portion of payments and corporate settlements shifts to USDT, USDC, and other blockchain-based instruments, traditional banks risk losing a portion of their deposits and fee-based business.
Therefore, they are trying to offer their own alternative.
In fact, three competing models are currently taking shape: private stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, bank-issued stablecoins and tokenized deposits, as well as future central bank digital currencies.
The winner of this race could capture a significant share of the new market for round-the-clock international payments and settlements involving tokenized assets.
State-owned Oschadbank issued 3.3 billion UAH in loans to microbusinesses from January through June 2026, which is 37% more than during the same period last year, the financial institution reported on its website.
It is noted that the number of loans issued rose by 27% to 2,596.
Oschadbank’s microbusiness loan portfolio has grown by nearly 20% since the beginning of the year and exceeded 7.6 billion hryvnias.
During the first half of the year, the bank processed 2,799 applications from microbusiness representatives.
As part of its cooperation with the Fund for Partial Guarantees of Agricultural Loans, Oschadbank issued 313 microloans to agricultural producers during this period under portfolio guarantees totaling 459.8 million UAH.
According to the National Bank, as of July 1, 2026, Oschadbank, with total assets of 518.87 billion hryvnias, ranked second among Ukraine’s 59 banks. The bank’s total loan portfolio grew by 6.7% in the first half of the year, reaching 136.83 billion hryvnias.
agricultural producer, BANK, LOAN, microbusiness, OSCHADBANK
According to Fixygen, the standoff between traditional banks and cryptocurrencies is gradually changing in nature: the largest financial institutions are no longer trying to prove that they don’t need blockchain; instead, they are beginning to migrate bank deposits and payments to the very same technological infrastructure on which stablecoins operate.
One of the most significant developments in August was the creation of the BankChain Alliance in the U.S., which brought together banking associations from 39 states. The project aims to create a banking blockchain network by 2027 that will be capable of supporting tokenized deposits, stablecoins, automated settlements, and programmable payments.
In effect, small and regional U.S. banks are trying to develop their own alternative to cryptocurrency payment infrastructure, rather than ceding this market to Circle, Coinbase, and tech companies.
Major banks are moving in the same direction.
On August 4, Wells Fargo announced the launch of tokenized deposits for corporate clients. These funds are bank money recorded on the blockchain and enable round-the-clock settlements, including on weekends. The first phase involves transactions between the U.S. dollar and the British pound, and by 2027, the bank intends to expand its geographic reach and list of currencies.
The fundamental difference between a tokenized deposit and USDC or USDT lies in who the issuer is.
In the case of a traditional stablecoin, the customer holds a digital claim against a specialized issuer. In the case of a tokenized deposit, the customer still holds a bank deposit, but the infrastructure for managing it is blockchain-based.
Therefore, banks are essentially telling the crypto industry: we accept the technology, but we want to keep the money within the banking system.
Payment systems have gone even further.
Visa reported that its annual volume of transactions in stablecoins reached approximately $7 billion, and in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEE) region, the volume of such transactions increased nearly 60-fold over the year. The company is already developing more than 160 card programs linked to stablecoins.
In July, Visa launched a dedicated platform, the Visa Stablecoin Platform, through which banks, fintech companies, and payment providers will be able to work with stablecoins within a unified infrastructure. In August, the company also expanded Visa Direct to include the ability to make payments and provide pre-funding using stablecoins.
At the same time, the use of stablecoins directly by consumers is growing rapidly.
According to an estimate by the payment company RedotPay, cited by Reuters, spending via cards linked to stablecoins could rise to approximately $50 billion per year by 2028. As early as July 2026, the monthly volume of such card payments exceeded $1 billion for the first time.
The most important factor driving changes in the market is regulation in the U.S.
On August 17, the U.S. Department of the Treasury published a new draft rule for implementing the GENIUS Act. Starting January 18, 2027, the issuance of payment stablecoins in the U.S. will generally be permitted only to licensed issuers. Starting in July 2028, U.S. service providers will also face restrictions on offering users stablecoins issued without the appropriate license.
As a result, the market is entering a completely new phase.
Just a few years ago, the question went something like this: Will cryptocurrencies replace banks?
Now the question has changed: Who will control the digital dollar—crypto companies, banks, or payment systems?
This is precisely where one of the major financial competitive battles of the next few years may unfold.
Circle and Tether have created a model of dollar-backed money that can be transferred around the clock and almost instantly. Banks have realized that customers truly want this functionality, but they are unwilling to hand over the deposits—on which the traditional banking model is based—to tech companies.
As a result, the market is gradually moving toward the coexistence of three forms of the digital dollar.
The first is traditional bank money.
The second is tokenized bank deposits, which Wells Fargo and other banks are transferring to the blockchain.
The third is stablecoins, which exist outside the traditional deposit account system but are becoming increasingly integrated into the financial system under new regulatory conditions.
The winner here has not yet been determined. But one conclusion is already clear: the blockchain infrastructure itself is no longer just an experiment in the cryptocurrency sector.
If the largest banks and Visa begin to process payments 24/7 via blockchain, the major technological debate of the past decade will effectively come to an end.
Blockchain hasn’t destroyed banks—banks have begun to embrace blockchain.
Sources: U.S. Treasury, Wells Fargo, Visa, Reuters, publications from August 4–26, 2026.
