Increase in interchange fees for payments by Ukrainian banks: agreement with Visa and Mastercard

Starting July 1, Ukrainian banks and international payment systems have agreed to raise the maximum interchange rate to 0.9% for non-cash payments. This was reported by Forbes.ua, citing one of the participants of the meeting held on June 26.

The publication also has access to the minutes of the meeting, which refers to this agreement. Currently, the interchange fee paid by the bank servicing the outlet to the card issuing bank is 0.7%.

Retailers had previously called for the increase to be postponed until after the war, as it was not profitable for them. However, banks threatened to increase the cost of services for end customers and introduce card service fees. In turn, an increase in acquiring costs by banks could affect retail prices for goods.

The increase in interchange fees means that the Ukrainian payment market, after more than a year of preferential conditions due to the war, will return to the conditions approved on May 17, 2021, in a memorandum of the National Bank of Ukraine together with Visa and Mastercard.

According to the memorandum, the latter were to reduce interchange rates to no more than 1.2% two weeks after receiving permission from the Antimonopoly Committee, to no more than 1% from July 1, 2022, and to no more than 0.9% from July 1, 2023.

e-finance.com.ua