Ukraine’s banking system is still working but with chaos across the country and many branches closed, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) recommends that retail businesses offer “cashback” services to their clients paying by card as a simple way to tap the cash in circulation and support the banking system.

“Since the war broke out, the National Bank of Ukraine has recommended that retail businesses provide the Ukrainian people with a possibility to make cash withdrawals at retail chains and shops to meet households’ demand for cash,” the NBU said on its website on April 4. “Banks and payment systems have been actively supporting the initiative. Currently, over a thousand retail businesses around Ukraine are ready to pay out cash from payment cards. According to the information available to the NBU, the number of POS terminals that offer this option is no less than 35,000.”

Cashiers paid out about UAH3.8bn ($130mn) in cashbacks in March 2022, according to the NBU’s estimates on about 2.7mn of card-based transactions made in March. The average transaction value amounted to about UAH1,400 ($48), which means that around 88,000 transactions worth over UAH124mn ($4.2mn) were processed on an average day in March.

Twenty-five Ukrainian banks that issue payment cards have been providing this service to their clients, the NBU reports. At the same time, six acquirers have customised their POS-terminals to carry out the cashback transactions including: Raiffeisen Bank Aval, CB PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Pivdennyi Bank, ALFA-BANK and BANK VOSTOK.

Most frequently, Ukrainians withdrew cash when making payments in big retail networks, such as ATB, Silpo, VARUS, Fora, FOZZY and NOVUS. Cash withdrawals were also actively made in pharmacy chains and gas stations, the NBU reports. And since the martial law was imposed in March, the number of retail businesses that introduced the service for their customers has been growing steadily.

But the trend has been slowing as March came to an end in both volumes and the number of transactions terms. Over 61,000 transactions, worth almost UAH90mn, were made on a given day during the last week of March, a fall of 30%.

“Obviously, the war has made it much more difficult to provide cash collection services in the territories where the life and health of bank employees are under threat. Therefore we are very grateful to retail businesses, gas stations, pharmacies and service providers that, in close co-operation with banks and payment systems, offer their customers the vital ability to get their cash back when checking out. By giving Ukrainians free access to their funds during martial law, they are carrying out an additional social mission. In addition, the average amount on the receipt and the declining daily volumes of such transactions prove that the active implementation of this capability and the satisfaction of customer demand for cash hryvnias have been timely,” said NBU Deputy Governor Oleksii Shaban.

Cashback withdrawals are limited to between UAH500 ($17) and UAH6,000 ($204), depending on the retail outlet they are being serviced at.