Ukraine is preparing to launch open banking: what is known
27 June 2025 14:44
Starting August 1, a new financial reality is set to emerge in Ukraine: open banking will be launched. The financial information of bank customers will become more accessible. What awaits those who will open their data and those who will use it, "Komersant Ukrainian" found out.
In a month, Ukrainian citizens and companies will be able to access their financial history, which is kept under the “bank secrecy” stamp and can be used by “third parties,” i.e. other financial institutions – financial service providers.
How will it work? Andriy Dubas, President of the Association of Ukrainian Banks, explains.
“The introduction of open banking will create conditions for the emergence of new startups in Ukraine that will be able to develop products, special programs, and services. The client’s bank accounts can be integrated into this application, into this program, and the user will be able to keep track of his or her own family budget, for example. And, importantly, and this should be emphasized, the connection of the client’s accounts from different banks will be done with the client’s consent. And this family accounting, let’s call it that, can be done on one platform. There may be other options and possibilities. There are no limits to creativity here, but there will always be a requirement to provide access and consent to data disclosure,” emphasizes Andriy Dubas.
Currently, only the bank where a customer is served has access to personal financial data. With the launch of open banking, other institutions, such as fintech companies, will have access to this data.
In this regard, should we talk about, say, the abolition of banking secrecy?
According to Andriy Dubas, President of the Association of Ukrainian Banks, it is absolutely not.
“Banking secrecy in our banking business is the holy of holies. And we have a great hope that banking secrecy in our country will always be at the high level it is today. What will happen, for example, if you want to give access to your account to an app or program? You will have the right to do so. Both the right and the technical ability. But in no case will someone to whom you have not granted such a right be able to access your accounts, or if it is not prescribed by law. There is no other way. Let’s model the situation. Some startup has come up with this family accounting program, you want to install it, and you need to connect your accounts that you have in several banks. So, these accounts will be connected only with your personal consent,” says Andriy Dubas.
Open banking creates new opportunities
Managing your finances in one application where information from different banks is available – this is the comfort that open banking creates for users. But the benefits for citizens are not limited to this.
According to Yaroslav Smakota, CEO and founder of AgroApp, a fintech company Activitis shareholder, open banking is a powerful tool for transforming the financial market, as the EU experience shows.
“Open banking will not just create a single financial hub, i.e. the ability to see all your accounts, loans, deposits from different Ukrainian banks in one application, which will simplify budget planning, expense tracking, and financial management. Based on the analysis of transactions, AI applications (such as Plum and Chip in the EU) will be able to offer individualized advice on savings, investments, and select the most favorable loan and deposit offers from different Ukrainian banks,” the expert explains.
It is believed that open banking will most often help in obtaining a loan, as it will simplify and speed up the assessment of the recipient’s creditworthiness. In addition, open banking will improve account and payment management. Yaroslav Smakota continues.
“Thanks to consolidated financial information, the loan application process will become faster, and banks will be able to more accurately assess risks, which will help to obtain more affordable lending conditions. For example, the EU’s CreditLadder platform allows you to use rental payments to improve your credit score. Also, thanks to open banking, Ukrainian citizens will be able to pay for goods and services directly from their bank account (Pay by Bank), bypassing card systems, which can make transactions cheaper for sellers and more convenient for buyers. Residents of EU countries are already enjoying such benefits thanks to the TrueLayer and Volt payment platforms in the EU,” says Yaroslav Smakota.
Businesses will also be able to appreciate the new financial reality
For businesses, especially micro, small and medium-sized ones, the use of open banking also creates new opportunities. For example, in the form of optimizing cash flow management.
According to Yaroslav Smakota, CEO and founder of AgroApp, a fintech company Activitis shareholder, businesses will be able to aggregate data from all their bank accounts, getting a complete picture of liquidity in real time, which will allow them to better plan and control receivables and payables.
“Automation of accounting and financial records is another advantage of open banking. Integration with accounting programs will allow you to automatically reconcile bank statements, categorize transactions, simplifying reporting and reducing the workload on the accounting department. Again, banks and other financial institutions will be able to assess the creditworthiness of MSMEs more quickly based on open data, offering them more flexible and customized lending terms. For merchants, the use of account-to-account payments promises to reduce operating costs,” the expert notes.
According to Yaroslav Smakota, open banking is a green light for fintech companies and developers to create new innovative services.
And, according to foreign experience, one of the first results of the introduction of open banking is the revitalization of innovation.
Not only opportunities but also risks increase
The more participants who have access to financial data, the more opportunities for cybercrime attacks and fraud there are. Experts consider this a major risk.
According to Ivan Stepants, Advisor to the Association of Ukrainian Banks, Chief Innovation Officer at iPay.ua, open banking is about banking, but outside of banks.
“There are more participants. A few dozen main points of protection, as in the current situation with banks, are a few dozen. Or maybe there will be several hundred participants in open banking, because fintech startups and companies will want to build their new services on this. This is understandable, as is the fact that there will be more vulnerabilities. Therefore, each such company must ensure a high level of security. And the National Bank has worked on this and introduced certain security requirements,” the expert emphasizes.
Clear rules and standards for participants in the open banking system, reliable user authorization systems to prevent unauthorized access, and, in fact, improving financial literacy of the population will help minimize risks. Ivan Stepanets continues.
“If we are talking about phishing, the only thing here is that the client will need to evaluate more carefully the provider, the service that provides additional products based on open banking. If it’s a company that the customer is not very confident in, it may be worth considering. If it is a more or less well-known, familiar brand, there are probably fewer risks. It is imperative to pay attention to the license, as participants in open banking will be licensed by the National Bank. And it shouldn’t be a website or a mobile application of some kind: nothing about it is clear and no licenses are posted on the website. It will be important for the client to understand all these nuances,” Ivan Stepanets notes.
To what extent are citizens and businesses ready to use new opportunities?
The high level of digitalization and the fact that Ukrainians are already actively using digital services, as well as their high adaptability to new technologies, which has been confirmed in recent years, may indicate sufficient potential for the successful implementation of open banking. This is the opinion of Yaroslav Smakota, CEO and founder of AgroApp, a fintech startup, and shareholder of Activitis.
At the same time, he admits that many citizens and small businesses may lack an understanding of the benefits and risks of open banking.
“In general, Ukrainians and businesses are ready, but they need clear communication, simple solutions, and security guarantees,” the expert emphasizes.
On the other hand, Ukrainians are not the first on this path, and the experience of using the benefits of open banking in foreign countries adds to the optimism.
For example, the Open Banking Impact Report, dated October 2021, confirmed that open banking helps consumers and small and medium-sized businesses solve many financial problems: stick to the budget, cut unnecessary expenses, and find more favorable offers.
Thus, 76% of customers using open banking products admitted that these services helped them save more, 75% of users of personal finance management services said that their use helped control costs, and 62% of service customers even managed to reduce unnecessary expenses, and another 55% were able to avoid paying unnecessary fees.
Author: Sergey Vasilevich
