Ukraine has announced its plans to adopt Open Banking, aiming to further align with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and its EU integration objectives.
By introducing Open Banking, Ukraine aims to enhance financial technology development, promote progress in the payment sector, increase competition, improve current services, and enable new payment products. Moreover, the move supports the country’s alignment with the SEPA and its plan to join the European Union.
Existing participants in the market are required to upgrade their systems, test sandboxes, and file compliance reports by 1 August 2025. As of this date, payment service providers across Ukraine have five months to align with the regulation’s requirements.
Open Banking in Ukraine
The regulation encompasses procedures and requirements for third-party payment service providers to access user accounts held by account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs), as well as laws governing the provision of non-financial payment services, and processes for obtaining and revoking user consent. It also outlines principles for utilising and categorising APIs in Open Banking.
Furthermore, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has developed processes for authorising non-financial payment service providers to access user accounts under Open Banking, demanding that legal entities register in the Payment Infrastructure Registry. The lawmaker included authorisation conditions, necessary documentation, business reputation standards for applicants and their management, and procedures for inclusion in the registry.
At the same time, the Open Banking regulation outlines the requirements for non-financial payment service providers engaging third parties or technical operators, as well as conditions for expanding, reducing, or ending authorisation.
NBU is set to publish a reference API spec and launch interoperability tests, while banks will inform customers how to grant or revoke consent. Companies that align with the regulation early on can benefit from new market share and support the development of Ukraine’s payment ecosystem, allowing it to reach European standards.
