Page 42 - RBI FIntech Atlas 2018

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Spotlight Ukraine
Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine
The ntech scene in Ukraine is in its formative phase and comprises over 80 companies at different stages of development. Over a third of these are involved in B2B payments while many others provide infrastructure or loan services. Many Ukrainian ntechs focus on the European rather than the domestic market.
According to the Ukrainian National Bank, by the end of 2018, Ukraine had taken the 4th place in the world by the amount of NFC transactions. A majority of Ukrainian banks and retailers have developed their own payment wallets and have also set up cooperations with tech giants (Google Pay, Apple Pay).
The strong growth of the sector in 2018 is continuing in 2019, helped by the high level of mobile penetration and largely well-educated and technologically literate population. Fintech solutions aimed at nancial inclusiveness and the mass market offer the best growth potential for 2019. There is an ongoing process of harmonisation of Ukrainian legislation with EU directives in such areas as e-money, remote account registration, multilevel client identi cation, PSD2 and open API.
According to ntech representatives, a key hurdle
in Ukraine is the outdated legislative and regulatory environment. Welcome reforms would include tax breaks for innovators, a simpler and more transparent process for establishing startups and the easing of banking regulations to authorise open API and give ntechs better access
to nancing. A further challenge is the loss of talented Ukrainians to more advanced markets.
The many initiatives of the National Bank of Ukraine to support ntechs include its program for upgrading the country’s nancial sector by 2020. This involves such reforms as the move towards a cashless economy, the adoption of ISO 20022 (universal nancial industry message scheme), the use of e-documents, e-signatures and remote customer identi cation and the strengthening of both nancial literacy and the rights of the users of nancial services.
Progress is also being made in improving the startup environment. Recent advances in the investment landscape have included the launches of VC funds, incubators, accelerators and alternative sources of funding.