The monthly transaction limit of 150,000 UAH, introduced by banks on February 1 as part of the memorandum "On Ensuring Transparency in the Functioning of the Banking Payment Services Market," was utilized by 2,000 clients in the largest bank in the country, PrivatBank, within the first two days of its implementation, reported Anton Razumny, a member of the bank's board responsible for compliance.
"In the first two days of the restrictions, 2,000 PrivatBank clients have already hit the limit of 150,000 UAH, which indicates a significant reach," he stated at a briefing in Kyiv.
Razumny clarified that since only 11 days have passed since the beginning of February, it's still too early for a complete analysis, and the bank is monitoring the situation.
"We are rather expecting complaints and working with clients: providing information, understanding their needs, and assessing their financial capabilities to set appropriate limits that align with the bank's information about them," the board member explained.
According to the bank's presentation, it estimates its active customer base by the end of 2024 to be 18.32 million individuals and 910,000 business clients. The number of users of the bank's mobile application "Privat24" reached 13.76 million people.
Razumny reminded that when the National Bank of Ukraine introduced the 150,000 UAH limit for P2P transfers on October 1, 2024, approximately 80% of the transfer traffic shifted from P2P to transfers using IBAN details.
"The memorandum (signed by the banks) aims to compensate for this, as it has become clear to everyone that just (the restriction on) P2P does not prohibit this activity (drops - IF-U), because there is an account under each card," the banker explained.
At the same time, he emphasized that considering the overall number of PrivatBank clients, the dynamics of transfers recorded in February does not raise significant concerns.
"We are observing and actively monitoring how the market will change, what actions those individuals who actively used individuals for activities targeted by the 150,000 UAH restrictions, implemented in the fall by the National Bank and (from February 1, 2025) the memorandum supported by most banks, will take. We are working together with businesses and regulators as much as possible in terms of information exchange," Razumny noted.
According to him, there have been few complaints so far. The banker believes that 150,000 UAH per month is a fairly substantial amount for an average citizen for personal transfers, and most clients will not feel the impact of such restrictions since cash transactions and operations in retail networks remain unlimited.
As reported, at the time of the introduction of the restrictions on February 1, the memorandum was signed by 44 out of 62 banks in the market, as well as two financial companies - NovaPay and RozetkaPay.
The document provides for the introduction of unified market practices and approaches to proper client verification and monitoring of their financial operations, specifically introducing a monthly transaction limit of 50,000 UAH for high-risk clients without verified income starting February 1, 2025.
For clients with medium and low risk levels, the limit is set at 150,000 UAH per month starting February 1 and will decrease to 100,000 UAH from June 1.
This applies not only to card-to-card transfers - P2P transactions, which the National Bank of Ukraine has already limited to 150,000 UAH per month at one bank, but also to all operations from current accounts in favor of individuals, including those using IBAN.