PrivatBank

Banks, head office in Dnipro, 2010
Type	Public joint-stock company
Industry	Banking, investment
Founded	1992
Headquarters	Dnipro , Ukraine
Key people	Hanna Samarina[1]
Services	Financial services
Revenue	₴ 18.910 billion (2013)[2]
Net income	₴1.307 billion (2013)[2]
Owner	Government of Ukraine[3]
Number of employees	30,000
Subsidiaries	AS PrivatBank (Latvia) AS PrivatBank (Portugal) AS PrivatBank (Italia) PrivatBank IBU (Cyprus)
Website	privatbank.ua

PrivatBank branch in Lviv, 2015

PrivatBank (Ukrainian: ПриватБанк) is the largest Ukrainian bank in terms of assets and the leader of Ukrainian retail banking market. It was registered on 19 March 1992. PrivatBank was one of the first to introduce modern digital banking and unique technological solutions in Ukraine, allowing customers to use most services remotely by means of Privat24.

PrivatBank has the second-largest network of branches and the largest network of ATMs and terminals among Ukrainian banks. As of July 2022, more than 7,000 ATMs, 11,000 payment terminals and more than 250,000 POS terminals are operating in the network. The national banking service network of PrivatBank includes approximately 1,200 branches. PrivatBank is the largest issuer and acquirer of electronic payment means in Ukraine. The Bank owns PrivatMoney (money transfer system), Privat24 and LiqPay (most popular payment services in Ukraine).

PrivatBank was the first in Ukraine to connect Google Pay and Apple Pay payment services.

PrivatBank is one of the systemically important banks in Ukraine. According to the British magazine The Banker, in 2016 "PrivatBank" ranked 16th in the rating of the largest banks in Central and Eastern Europe and 627th in the rating of the top 1000 global banks.^[4]

As of 31 December 2021, the final controlling party of the Bank is the State represented by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

History

PrivatBank is one of the first private commercial banks established in Ukraine. Decision on PrivatBank establishment was taken at the meeting of its founders on 7 February 1992.

On 19 March 1992, the Bank was registered by the Stateas a commercial bank in the form of a limited liability company. At the very beginning, PrivatBank had only one office and a few computers. PrivatBank was the first in Ukraine to introduce plastic cards and ATMs.

In 1996 PrivatBank became a full member of Visa International (payment system) and launched a large-scale plastic cards issuance.

In 1997 PrivatBank became the first Ukrainian bank to obtain a Thomson BankWatch rating statement (an international rating agency) and became a full member of the Europay payment system.

In 1998 the Bank obtained Fitch IBCA rating statement (an international rating agency).

In 2000 the organizational and legal form of PrivatBank changed: on 6 July, PrivatBank shareholders made a decision to reorganize the Bank from a limited liability company to a closed joint-stock company. The Charter of the Closed Joint-Stock Company Commercial Bank "PrivatBank" was registered on 4 September 2000.

The launch of the Privat24 project was a significant event in the Ukrainian banking system in 2001. Customers were able to manage their accounts online, make regular payments, transfer funds, etc.

In February 2002, PrivatBank emitted its millionth plastic card.

In 2003, the Western Union system recognized PrivatBank as the best bank in terms of customer service quality. The Bank also obtained the STP Excellence Award from Deutsche Bank, which confirmed the professionalism of PrivatBank in international settlements.

In 2009, the Bank changed its organizational and legal form to a public joint-stock company.

In June 2018, the Bank changed its organizational and legal form from a public joint-stock company to a joint-stock company.

Customers

The Bank is a universal Bank that focuses on the retail segment, actively promoting services for small and medium businesses and selectively working in the corporate sector.

There are more than 25 million people have used the services of PrivatBank at least once in their lives, which is in Ukraine. Almost 19 million Ukrainians regularly use the services of PrivatBank, and there are currently 15 million customers of Privat24 digital banking.

The majority of corporate customers are small- and medium-sized enterprises. Special attention is paid to the service of network corporations.

The sectoral characteristics of the Bank's customer base show that a large part comprises trade and commercial enterprises. A significant share of corporate customers are enterprises in the food, transport, agricultural, and construction industries.

History of innovations

Debit card issued by PrivatBank

PrivatBank is known for its innovations. In 1999, the Bank launched SMS-banking, and in 2000, it introduced dynamic one-time OTP passwords by linking the card to a mobile phone number.

In 2001, PrivatBank launched the Privat24 digital banking system. As of June 2022, more than 15 million people use the Privat24 digital banking system.

And in 2002, the Bank introduced electronic document management.

Subsequently, PrivatBank was the first in the world to introduce P2P transfers between cards on the Internet and began mass emission of instant cards. In 2005, the Bank emitted a millionth credit plastic card.

Beginning from 2004, PrivatBank has started to make international money transfers to Ukraine using the PrivatMoney payment system.

In 2008, PrivatBank created the first iPhone application in Eastern Europe – iPay, and in 2010, PrivatBank launched mobile payment terminals.

2012 was the year of the introduction of contactless cash withdrawal via ATMs using a smartphone and a QR code.

And in 2015, PrivatBank launched the technology of instant payment via QR code.

In 2016, Visa and PrivatBank announced the launch of the Visa Token Service in Ukraine, which replaces confidential payment card information with a unique digital identifier which is a token.

The next two years were favorable for smartphone owners: in 2017, PrivatBank brought Android Pay (now Google Pay) to Ukraine, and in 2018 – Apple Pay.

2019 was marked in the history of innovations by the updated Privat24. Beyond that, FacePay24 technology – payment by face – became available to bank customers for the first time in Ukraine. The Bank also implemented a number of digital services:

• tips paid via POS terminal;
• compulsory automobile liability insurance policies in Privat24;
• digital card and digital skins in Privat24;
• PrivatPay is a new online payment method.

In 2020, PrivatBank launched the "Money at the cash register" service that allows to receive cash at store cash registers. Besides, the Bank has the first biometric POS terminals in Ukraine.

Moreover, government services became available to customers:

• conclusion of gas supply contracts with Naftogaz by means of Privat24;
• identity verification and account opening in PrivatBank using digital documents in the Diia application.

In 2021, the Bank opened the first Concept Store in Ukraine – a fully digital office in Kyiv, which is informally called the branch of the future.

Main financial indicators

PrivatBank earned a profit of ₴35.050 billion according to the official data of the National Bank of Ukraine in 2021.

Below is information on the Bank's equity, assets, and net profit for the past 15 years. More detailed financial indicators of the Bank can be found on the Bank's website in the section About the Bank – Financial reporting.

Ownership structure

On 1 January 2022, the Bank's shareholders are (according to the final aggregate share):

See also

• List of banks in Ukraine

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to PrivatBank.

• Official website (in English)
• ATMs, payment terminals, departments of PrivatBank on the map (in Ukrainian)