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PrivatBank (Ukrainian: ПриватБанк) is the largest bank in Ukraine by assets. It was formed on 19 March 1992 and has been owned by the Government of Ukraine since 2016. In early 2024, it was confirmed by the National Bank of Ukraine as one of the country's systemically important banks.[4]
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 operates several payment services including Privat24 and LiqPay.
It is notable for being the first bank to introduce digital banking services to Ukraine. PrivatBank was the first in Ukraine to connect Google Pay and Apple Pay payment services.
According to the British magazine The Banker, in 2016 PrivatBank ranked 16th among the largest banks in Central and Eastern Europe and 627th among the top 1000 global banks.[5]
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 a credit rating from Fitch IBCA.
On 6 July 2000, PrivatBank shareholders decided 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.
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.
On December 18, 2016, the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) appointed a temporary administrator to manage the activities of PJSC CB "PrivatBank" in accordance with the decision of the National Bank of Ukraine to classify the Bank as insolvent.
On December 19-21, 2016, in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On the Deposit Guarantee System”, the DGF dismissed the Bank's Management and Supervisory Board and was solely responsible for managing the Bank's activities during these three days. The DGF recognized the impairment of loans and advances to customers in the amount of UAH 155,764 million and converted UAH 10,934 million of customer funds, UAH 10,721 million of issued Eurobonds and UAH 7,783 million of subordinated debt into authorized capital of the Bank (‘bail in’). On December 21, 2016, after the bail in, the Bank's shares were sold for UAH 1 to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. In December 2016, the Ministry of Finance decided to increase the authorized capital of the Bank by UAH 116,800 million and by further UAH 38,565 million in June 2017. Subsequently, the Ukrainian state has owned 100% of the shares of the authorized capital.
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.
Almost 19 million Ukrainians regularly use the services of PrivatBank, and there are currently 15 million customers of Privat24 digital banking.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
