Prefunding UAH payouts in Ukraine
Prefunding payouts in Ukraine means holding UAH with a payout partner or a local settlement account before transfers are paid, so recipients are paid without waiting for funds to arrive. Payouts run over SEP (System of Electronic Payments) and SEP instant credit transfer. No weekday bank closures are listed for Ukraine in the next 12 months. The rules and timings below are the ones that decide how much to hold and when to top up.
Funding rules and timing in Ukraine
- Resolution No. 18 bars authorised institutions from cross-border transfers of funds out of Ukraine, including to correspondent accounts of non-resident banks, except for listed transactions; banks' own transactions, including settlements with international payment systems, are among the exceptions. source
- Since 17 September 2026 non-bank payment service providers can credit hryvnia to individuals' payment accounts from foreign-currency transfers initiated abroad, through card schemes or direct account transfers such as SWIFT, after converting the funds. source
- SEP worked 24/7 through the year end, including 31 December 2025 and 1 January 2026, with the FX market and other NBU systems operating normally on those days. source
- At Ukreximbank, correspondents' outgoing transfers through its NOSTRO accounts are executed for same-day value if received by 17:00 Kyiv time for UAH and USD (16:00 for USD on Fridays and pre-holiday days) and by 16:00 for EUR, GBP and CAD (15:30 on Fridays and pre-holiday days). source
- The NBU fixed the hryvnia's exchange rate on 24 February 2022 and moved to managed exchange rate flexibility in October 2023; household transfers abroad remain a stage-three liberalisation step still to come. source
The rails that spend the prefund
| Rail | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SEP (System of Electronic Payments) | RTGS system for hryvnia settlements between banks and their clients, running 24/7 without pausing and with an instant switch to the next calendar day; it carries over 99% of interbank payments. | source |
| SEP instant credit transfer | Available in SEP 4.1 since December 2024, it credits the payee's account immediately at any time of day, with funds usable after a transaction completed within 10 seconds; it is built on ISO 20022 and the SEPA scheme. | source |
Where the prefund sits
Money for Ukraine payouts is usually held with one or more of these, each a balance to watch. The full shortlist, with sources, is on the Ukraine payments stack page.
| Payout partners | Thunes, TerraPay, Rapyd, Nium |
| Local banking and settlement accounts | Ukreximbank, MTB Bank, OTP Bank Ukraine |
Bank closures to fund around
No weekday bank closures listed for Ukraine in the next 12 months. See the Ukraine bank holiday calendar.
Corridors into Ukraine
| Corridor | Average cost to send | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Germany to Ukraine | 3.49% | Q3 2025 |
| Italy to Ukraine | 11.76% | Q3 2025 |
| United States to Ukraine | 4.45% | Q3 2025 |
Costs are World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide averages for sending the equivalent of US$200.
Size the prefund
Hold enough UAH to cover payouts for your lead time plus every closure in that window, then top up when runway drops below target. The corridor runway calculator does the arithmetic; the glossary explains prefunding, corridor runway and liquidity buffers.
Where Polynopsis fits
Polynopsis shows the UAH balance at every partner and account that funds Ukraine payouts, next to the payouts expected against it and the top-ups already in flight, and warns before the corridor runs dry, including ahead of Ukraine bank holidays.
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.
About Polynopsis
Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.
Why it is called Polynopsis · About Polynopsis · Glossary · Corridor runway calculator