You can now send UAH to all Ukrainian accounts

Every day, lots of people send money to Privatbank cards in Ukraine with TransferWise. Recently, we sped up these UAH payments — so instead of taking 2 days, they’re now generally instant 24/7. We were also thrilled to make sending EUR and USD to Privatbank even cheaper for our customers, too. And yet, as long as our customers could send UAH only to Privatbank cards, we knew that some people were missing out.

It’s true, Privatbank previously had the largest customer base in Ukraine — but things are changing. Neobanks, such as Monobank, are pushing into the market with fresh ideas and Ukrainians are ready to hear them out.

You can now send UAH to all cards in Ukraine

We’re happy to announce that our customers can now send UAH to any Ukrainian card — fast and with transparent fees. Not only does that include Monobank, but also UkrSibbank, Raiffeisen Aval, Alfa Bank to name a few. To get started with sending UAH to Ukraine, all you have to do is log in via www.transferwise.com or the Android app.

Check with your bank about fees for receiving UAH

Thankfully, most Ukrainian banks don’t charge any fees for receiving UAH. But in general, it’s the smaller banks that are more likely to charge for receiving money from another bank.

Some of the banks that could charge for incoming UAH transfers include: Universal Bank OJSC, Piraeus Bank ISB, Credit Agricole, and Bank Pivdennyi. But prices depend on the type of account you have with them — and tend to be between 0.6% and 1%. It’s also worth noting that there could be a flat fee on top, like in some packages with Bank Vostok, where they charge 0.7% +2.50UAH to some of their customers.

Bigger banks, such as UkrSibbank, Raiffeisen Aval, Monobank, PUMB, Kredobank, OTP bank, or Alfa Bank, usually don’t charge anything for receiving UAH on their cards via TransferWise — hurray!

But to be sure you won’t be hit with unexpected fees, it’s never a bad idea to reach out to the receiving bank before you send UAH with TransferWise.

How to send UAH to any Ukrainian card

To make a successful UAH transfer, all you need is your recipient’s name — just as it’s written on the card — and their full card number.

Your recipient won’t see the reference note you entered, or your name on their bank account statement. They’ll see an incoming payment from Privatbank — our partner bank, with no further description. If you want your recipient to receive a reference note, and make sure they know who the money is coming from, enter their email address when you set up the transfer. That way, we’ll forward the reference and your sender name to them via email.

From 13th January 2020, Ukraine plans to have fully transitioned to using IBANs. So in the future, you might be asked for an IBAN when sending money. But for now, many Ukrainians won’t know their IBANs yet — so a full card number will work perfectly fine.

Onwards!