What happened

The National Bank of Ukraine published the results of its 2025 monitoring and approved the list of important payment infrastructure entities. This official decision was posted on the NBU website on March 3 and defines which payment systems and technology operators will receive heightened attention from the regulator.

"The National Bank has approved the list of important payment infrastructure entities based on the results of monitoring activity in 2025."

— National Bank of Ukraine, press service

Who was included on the list

The only system recognized as systemically important is the NBU's System of Electronic Payments (SEP). Five operators were included in the list of important payment systems: the international Visa and MasterCard, as well as three Ukrainian players — PrivatMoney (PrivatBank), NovaPay, and Financial World (Ukrainian Payment System).

The list of technology operators of payment services remained unchanged: LLC "ACD Processing", PJSC "Ukrainian Processing Center", and LLC "TAS Link".

Why it matters

Being recognized is neither a punishment nor a privilege — it is a risk-management tool. The NBU assigns these companies a higher level of oversight and requires them to meet stricter standards for availability, cybersecurity, and business continuity plans. In practical terms, this means the state focuses resources on the components that the functioning of electronic payments across the country depends on.

Consequences for users and businesses

For citizens — a direct benefit: more stable payments, faster service recovery in case of incidents, and transparent accountability mechanisms. For banks and payment operators — additional requirements for reporting, resilience testing, and cyber protection. For the state — a tool that helps reduce the risks of devastating disruptions to the financial infrastructure, important in wartime and for economic recovery.

Context and social proof

This is not an isolated initiative: at the end of January the NBU for the first time published a list of important financial companies — 53 legal entities. In 2025 the regulator also for the first time published a list of "significant" credit unions (there are two). This signals a course toward greater transparency and that infrastructure monitoring is becoming part of national security.

What’s next

The NBU's position clarifies priorities: to maintain the functioning of the payment system even under stress. The next steps are enforcing compliance with requirements, regular stress tests, and public reports on readiness. For users this means: check service availability and contact the regulator in case of systemic problems. For businesses — prepare investments in cybersecurity and redundancy solutions.

Brief conclusion: the NBU's decision is not technocratic formalism, but an element of practical security policy. When we talk about payment infrastructure, we are talking about the everyday resilience of the economy — from pensions to a volunteer's salary. The current task for parties and regions is to demand transparency and accountability from the recognized operators.