Questions of the magazine “The banker”

1. What are the main trends that prevail today in the segment of international money transfers?

2. Tell us about the new services that payment systems are planning to offer to the customers? How will this affect the cost of transfers?

3. How will the competition change in the segment of payment systems in Ukraine in the next few years, in your opinion?

Konstiantyn Lytvyn, the head of the department of innovative technologies of the Department of Transactional Business of FUIB

Instant transfers without the account opening that are made via the Western Union, UNIStream, MoneyGram systems are still popular. At the moment a positive dynamic in the demand for money transfer services, the growth of trust of customers in the "civilized" methods of sending money through the international systems of money transfer and the improvement of IT systems are observed.

Private entities can perform the transfers in currency abroad from Ukraine in the amount not exceeding 15,000 UAH in the equivalent in one business day without opening the account and without the provision of supporting documents (NBU Order No. 496 from December 29, 2007). However, this limit no longer meets the needs of the market, taking into account the increase in the rates of foreign currencies in relation to hryvnya over the recent years. The change of this limit will allow private entities to transfer large sums abroad from Ukraine. The fact that the money transfers without opening the account on the territory of Ukraine can be performed exclusively in hryvnya is also inconvenient for customers.

The following services will be widely offered in the coming years: online tracking of the transaction status on the websites of the transfer systems, SMS-informing of the recipient (about the sending) and the sender (about the disbursement of a money transfer), crediting of the transferred amount onto a bank payment card, payment for various services with a help of money transfers (mobile communications, utility charges, loan repayments, etc.), servicing with individual client cards, which will help to reduce the time of the processing of a transfer. The implementation of new convenient methods of performing the money transfers by means of mobile and internet technologies can be expected. But the implementation of innovative technologies can lead to the appreciation of transfer services.

Source: magazine "The Banker" No.1, 2013