Sending money from Germany to Ukraine: the payments stack
Sending EUR 140 from Germany to Ukraine cost 3.49% of the amount on average in Q3 2025, across 19 services in the World Bank's Remittance Prices Worldwide survey. Payouts in Ukraine typically run over SEP (System of Electronic Payments), SEP instant credit transfer; between now and the end of 2027 there are 4 weekdays when banks in Germany are closed but Ukraine keeps paying out, so the payout balance has to be funded before them.
| Average cost to send | 3.49% of EUR 140 (Q3 2025, World Bank RPW) source |
| Money transfer operators | 3.3% across 17 services |
| Collect in Germany | SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst), TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement), T2 (RTGS and CLM), SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT), CENTROlink |
| Pay out in Ukraine | SEP (System of Electronic Payments), SEP instant credit transfer |
What it costs to send EUR 140
The World Bank surveyed 19 services sending from Germany to Ukraine from 19 August 2025 to 26 August 2025. The average total cost, fees plus the FX margin, was 3.49% of the amount sent; money transfer operators averaged 3.3%. source
Bank and operator averages are worked out from the survey's provider types.
The send side: Germany
- PSD2 sets initial capital for payment institutions at 20,000 euros for money remittance only, 50,000 euros for payment initiation and 125,000 euros for the services in points 1 to 5 of Annex I (Article 7). source
- An e-money institution must hold initial capital of at least 350,000 euros at authorisation (EMD2, Article 4). source
- A payment institution that wants to provide services in another Member State for the first time notifies its home competent authority of the Member States, the services and any agents or branches it will use (PSD2, Article 28); agents are entered in the home register before they start (Article 19). source
Licences, sponsor banks, collections, ramps and KYC providers: sending from the Eurozone.
The payout side: Ukraine
| Payout partner | What it does in Ukraine | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thunes · our guide | Its Direct Global Network page lists Ukraine for payouts to bank accounts and cards. | source |
| TerraPay · our guide | Its network page lists Ukraine (UAH) for bank and card payouts. | source |
| Rapyd · our guide | The ua_local_bank payout method pays UAH into Ukrainian bank accounts for cross-border payouts, including mass payouts by SFTP file. | source |
| Nium · our guide | Sends SWIFT wires in USD, EUR, GBP and other currencies to all SWIFT-enabled banks in Ukraine, same day subject to a 07:30 UTC cut-off; it does not process payments to Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk or Sevastopol. | source |
Licensing, local banks, stablecoin ramps, FX and KYC in Ukraine: launching payments in Ukraine.
Payout rails in Ukraine
| Rail | Operator | What matters for payouts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEP (System of Electronic Payments) | National Bank of Ukraine | 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 | National Bank of Ukraine | 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 |
Holiday gaps to plan for, to December 2027
Weekdays when one side of the corridor is closed. On the 4 dates when Germany is closed and Ukraine is open, the payout balance has to already hold enough to cover them.
| Date | Germany | Ukraine | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 25 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day | Open | Prefund Ukraine the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
| Fri 1 Jan 2027 | New Year's Day | Open | Prefund Ukraine the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
| Fri 26 Mar 2027 | Good Friday | Open | Prefund Ukraine the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
| Mon 29 Mar 2027 | Easter Monday | Open | Prefund Ukraine the day before: no funding from Germany, payouts continue |
Full calendars: Euro area (TARGET2/T2 and SEPA) and Ukraine. Size the buffer with the corridor runway calculator.
Funding the corridor
- At the Bundesbank, T2 RTGS accepts customer payments from 02:30 to 17:00 and bank-to-bank payments from 02:30 to 18:00 on business days, so non-instant euro funding must be sent within those windows. source
- T2 has a non-optional maintenance window every week from 02:30 Saturday to 02:30 Monday, extended over TARGET closing days (for example from Good Friday to the Tuesday after Easter); when the optional weekday window (03:00 to 05:00) is activated, settlement of liquidity transfers in TIPS is affected while TIPS keeps processing instant payments. source
- 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
Running the corridor
Polynopsis shows every balance on both sides of this corridor in one live position: the collection accounts in Germany, the payout partners and banks in Ukraine and any stablecoin in between. It warns before the Ukraine balance runs dry, holidays included. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send money from Germany to Ukraine?
The World Bank's survey put the average total cost of sending EUR 140 at 3.49% in Q3 2025, across 19 services. Money transfer operators averaged 3.3%.
Which rails pay out in Ukraine?
Local payouts run over SEP (System of Electronic Payments), SEP instant credit transfer.
When do I need to prefund Ukraine payouts ahead of holidays?
Between now and December 2027 there are 4 weekdays when Germany is closed and Ukraine is open, the first on Fri 25 Dec 2026. The payout balance has to cover those days before they start.
Related corridors
Sources
- World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide dataset · World Bank
- T2 (opening hours and closing days) · European Central Bank
- TARGET Systems operating schedule, euro · European Central Bank
- Labour Code of Ukraine (Articles 67 and 73) · Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
- Calendar of official holidays in Ukraine (2027) · Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
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