Payments have decreased, but more money is passing through the system
In January-June 2026, it was held in Ukraine over 1.4 billion credit transfer and direct debit transactions. The total amount of such payments was almost UAH 27.5 trillion.
For comparison, during the same period in 2025, it was conducted 1.6 billion transactions for 22.5 trillion UAH.
Thus, the number of operations decreased by approximately 200 million, but their total volume increased by almost 5 trillion hryvnias. This means that, on average, larger sums pass through one transaction than a year ago.
Ukraine sends more funds abroad
The most noticeable change is observed in cross-border payments.
In the first half of the year, Ukraine received more than 4 million transfers for $36.95 billion. A year earlier, there were 5.5 million such transactions for $32.68 billion.
At the same time, they carried out from Ukraine abroad over 1.4 million transfers for $50.62 billion. In the first half of 2025, there were about 1.1 million such transactions for $40.71 billion.
That is, over the course of a year, the amount of transfers from Ukraine abroad increased by almost $10 billion, while the number of such operations increased by approximately 300,000.
What happens to cash flows
If we compare only these indicators, then in the first half of the year the volume of cross-border transfers from Ukraine exceeded receipts by approximately $13.7 billion.
This does not automatically mean that the Ukrainians took this amount out of the country. The statistics cover various types of cross-border payments, including business transactions and other financial transfers, so they cannot be equated only with private remittances of the population.
At the same time, the dynamics show that international financial transactions remain one of the most significant directions of movement of funds through the payment system of Ukraine.
Direct debit is used more and more actively
Separately, the NBU recorded an increase in the number of direct debit transactions.
It was carried out in six months 1.9 million such payments for UAH 10.54 billion. For comparison, in the first half of 2025, there were 1.1 million transactions worth UAH 7.1 billion.
Therefore, the number of operations per year increased by almost 73%, and their sum is approximately 48%.
Direct debit is used when the withdrawal of funds from the payer's account is initiated by the recipient based on prior consent. This mechanism, in particular, can be used for regular payments.
What role does the SEP play?
All these operations are part of the wider payment infrastructure of Ukraine. It remains one of its key elements NBU electronic payment system (SEP).
It ensures interbank settlements through accounts opened at the National Bank, and the NBU acts as its operator and settlement bank.
For the entire year 2025, the SEP passed 595.1 million payments for 273.6 trillion UAH. Compared to 2024, the number of payments increased by 23%, and their amount - by 13.5%.
What do the numbers show?
The main trend of the first half of 2026 — payment activity remains high, but the structure of operations is changing.
Ukrainians and businesses carry out fewer domestic transactions than a year earlier, but larger sums pass through the payment system. At the same time, the volume of international transfers from Ukraine is growing and direct debit is being used more actively.
That is, the payment market is not shrinking in terms of volume — on the contrary, more money flows through it, even though the number of individual transactions decreases.
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