The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading the draft law on the establishment of a financial inclusion bank on the basis of Ukrposhta, Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zheleznyak announced on Telegram on Tuesday, UNN writes.
The Rada supported in the first reading the creation of a "postal bank" on the basis of Ukrposhta (law on financial inclusion No. 13018-d). "For" - 269
What the bill envisages
According to the initiators of the draft law, it envisages:
- to introduce a new type of bank - a financial inclusion bank that will operate on the basis of a limited banking license, the main task of which is to serve clients who currently do not have sustainable access to financial services (citizens of Ukraine and micro-enterprises in areas close to the combat zone, in the liberated territories, as well as socially vulnerable groups of the population);
- to define at the legislative level the terms "financial inclusion", "limited banking license", "financial inclusion bank", as well as to authorize the National Bank of Ukraine to promote the development of financial inclusion;
- to stipulate that a financial inclusion bank may provide banking and other financial services exclusively to individuals, business entities, public and charitable organizations whose annual income from any activity in the previous reporting calendar year does not exceed the amount equivalent to EUR 5 million, determined at the official exchange rate of the hryvnia against foreign currencies set by the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as to public authorities and local governments;
- to ensure a focus on the relevant target groups of clients, to limit financial inclusion banks in conducting operations in the capital markets, and to establish restrictions on the total amount of credit funds that may be provided to one borrower, etc.
The main purpose of the draft law is to create a legal framework for the emergence of a new type of financial service providers on the financial services market of Ukraine - financial inclusion banks.
What this bill contains and how it differs from previous ones
According to Igor Smilyansky, CEO of Ukorposhta PJSC, the draft law provides for:
- 100% inclusiveness, namely, the possibility of providing banking services at home for people with disabilities. This is especially important for veterans who have lost mobility due to injuries;
- 100% coverage of banking services throughout Ukraine, including frontline regions, where electricity and communications are partially or even permanently absent due to the war, which currently makes it impossible to provide such services;
- compliance with the recently adopted laws, in particular, the abolition of the Commercial Code and the expansion of opportunities for lending to small and medium-sized businesses with a turnover of up to EUR 10 million per year (the restriction on the level of lending makes it impossible for the bank to cooperate with large businesses, and therefore minimizes certain well-known risks).
"In addition, the adoption of this draft law and the launch of Ukrposhta.Bank will allow the state to save up to 5 billion hryvnias over 3 years, which will definitely not be superfluous for the military budget," Smilyansky said.
What are the prerequisites
MP Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk pointed out that the statistics of recent years eloquently testify to systemic problems in the financial sector of Ukraine. As of January 1, 2022, there were 6,685 bank branches in Ukraine. By the beginning of 2025, their number had decreased to 5,011. This means that 1,674 branches were lost in three years, i.e. a quarter of the banking network. "In practice, this means that tens of thousands of citizens, especially in rural areas and in the liberated territories, have been left without access to banking services," she noted.
Small businesses in such regions, according to her, are deprived of the opportunity to obtain loans or conduct cashless transactions.
Meanwhile, according to the National Commission for the Regulation of Electronic Communications, in 2023, only 60-65% of settlements had access to fixed Internet. That is, at least a third of the country's territory does not have a stable connection - and cannot use online banking.
How will financial inclusion banks help?
In such circumstances, the MP says, financial inclusion banks can become a tool to overcome this problem.
"They will work through agents on the ground, in the most remote regions, and will be able to provide financial services where they are not currently available. And it's not just about serving the population. Micro-enterprises are an important engine of the economy in the regions. However, they are the least protected. Large banks are not interested in them because it is "risky" and "unprofitable," said Vasylevska-Smahliuk.
According to the MP, financial inclusion banks will open access to:
- small loans;
- preferential financial products;
- non-cash transactions.
"This will reduce dependence on cash and the shadow sector," she said.
"Are there risks in the proposed model? Yes. But they can be regulated by the second reading," the MP noted.