# NBU QR > Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UA/nbu-qr > research date 2026-10-19 · extracted at 2026-10-20 > Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards **SEP 4.1** is the version of the National Bank of Ukraine's interbank payment system (SEP) that, since **1 December 2024**, settles hryvnia transfers between banks in seconds. An **NBU QR code** is how you hand over the payment details: the payee shows or prints an NBU-format QR code, you scan it in your bank's app, check the recipient and IBAN it filled in, and confirm. One instant payment can be up to **UAH 100,000** [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv). Since 1 November 2025 every Ukrainian payment app has to scan these codes from its start screen [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). | | | |---|---| | **Country** | Ukraine (`UA`) | | **What it is** | Instant credit transfers by IBAN through the NBU's SEP, with details passed by QR code or link | | **Banks** | 19 banks plus the NBU as of 19 March 2025, all 8 systemically important banks among them [[3]](https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1057367.html) | | **Since** | 1 Dec 2024 (SEP 4.1 instant transfers); QR rules since 2020, replaced 1 Nov 2025 [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv) [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt) | | **Cost** | Set by each bank; one bank advertised instant transfers of your own money free at launch [[4]](https://news.finance.ua/ua/myttyevi-perekazy-z-bankom-klirynhovyy-dim) | | **Typical limit** | UAH 100,000 per instant payment [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv) | | **Reaches** | Hryvnia accounts at Ukrainian banks only; Ukraine is not in SEPA [[5]](https://aub.org.ua/en/hotovnist-platizhnoho-rynku-ukrainy-do-intehratsii-z-ievropeiskym-platizhnym-prostorom-detali-vid-nbu-2/) | | **Code on paper?** | Yes. The NBU QR code, marked with a hryvnia sign in a white circle, on bills, invoices and stickers [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt) | ## How NBU QR came to Ukraine The QR code is older than instant payments. In **May 2020** the NBU adopted Resolution No. 68, its first common rules for QR codes in credit transfers, because market players were already using QR codes "according to their own rules" and the codes didn't work across each other's systems [[6]](https://www.unian.ua/economics/finance/kreditni-perekazi-nbu-zatverdiv-yedini-pravila-qr-kodiv-novini-ukrajina-11022203.html). - **1 December 2024: SEP 4.1 goes live.** The NBU switched SEP to the new version with instant credit transfers. A transfer must complete in no more than 10 seconds, and one payment is capped at UAH 100,000. The NBU named QR codes and deeplinks as the way to pass payment details between users. At launch, the NBU and 10 banks were connected directly: Oschadbank, Credit Agricole Bank, Sky Bank, Clearing House, Ukrsibbank, Ukreximbank, European Industrial Bank (EPB), Sense Bank, Altbank and Idea Bank [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv). PrivatBank was not on that list; on the same day Clearing House said PrivatBank, Sense Bank and Piraeus Bank would join "soon" [[4]](https://news.finance.ua/ua/myttyevi-perekazy-z-bankom-klirynhovyy-dim). - **19 March 2025: 19 banks.** The NBU told Interfax-Ukraine that 20 direct participants used instant transfers: the NBU and 19 banks, including PrivatBank, Raiffeisen Bank and A-Bank. All 8 systemically important banks were in [[3]](https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1057367.html). - **May 2025: new QR rules proposed.** The NBU put out a draft to update the QR rules for instant transfers. The draft included a QR scanner on an app's first screen and common branding for the code [[7]](https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-economy/3991669-nacbank-proponue-onoviti-pravila-vikoristanna-qrkodiv-dla-kreditovih-perekaziv.html). - **19 August 2025: Resolution No. 97.** The NBU adopted the new rules for QR codes in credit and instant credit transfers. They replaced the 2020 rules and took effect on **1 November 2025** [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). Usage grew quickly, from a small base: | Period | Instant transfers through SEP | Source | |---|---|---| | Dec 2024 | 11,500 | [[3]](https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1057367.html) | | Jan–Feb 2025 | 55,200, worth UAH 543 million | [[3]](https://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/1057367.html) | | Full year 2025 | 35.9 million, worth UAH 163.1 billion; over 90 % completed in under 3 seconds | [[8]](https://mind.ua/news/20299765-sep-priskoryuetsya-u-2025-roci-595-mln-platezhiv-i-novij-servis-trekingu) | For scale, SEP as a whole handled 595.1 million payments in 2025 [[8]](https://mind.ua/news/20299765-sep-priskoryuetsya-u-2025-roci-595-mln-platezhiv-i-novij-servis-trekingu). The sources give no figure for how many of the instant transfers began with a QR scan. ## How to use it 1. **Pay by scanning.** Open your bank's app. Under the NBU rules the QR scanner has to be on the screen you see right after you log in [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). Scan the code on the bill, sticker or the other person's screen. 2. **Check, then confirm.** The app fills in the recipient, IBAN, tax or company code and purpose from the code. It must let you review them, choose an ordinary or an instant transfer where both are allowed, change the fields the payee hasn't locked, and then confirm or cancel [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). 3. **Pay from a link.** Newer codes are links (they begin `https://qr.bank.gov.ua/`). Tapping such a link on your phone opens your payment app with the details filled in, which is how the NBU expects instant payments to work in online shops [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt) [[9]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/239832_z-1-listopada-dyatimut-nov-pravila-formuvannya-qr-kodv-dlya-perekazv). 4. **Ask for money.** Your app must be able to generate a QR code with your own account details, show it, and share it to other apps, so the payer can scan it or receive it by message [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). 5. **Receive:** nothing to do. An instant transfer lands within seconds, and your bank tells you at once [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv). Both people and companies can start an instant SEP transfer [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv). The payment is only instant when **both** banks support it [[4]](https://news.finance.ua/ua/myttyevi-perekazy-z-bankom-klirynhovyy-dim). Otherwise A-Bank's terms, for example, say it sends the transfer the ordinary SEP way, automatically [[10]](https://a-bank.com.ua/backend/api/v1/condition/pdf/uk/1002). ## Limits and fees The system limit is UAH 100,000 per instant payment [[1]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/232331_v-ukran-zapratsyuvala-nova-versya-sep-z-funktsonalnstyu-mittvikh-perekazv). Banks add their own limits and fees on top. The two banks whose terms we could read: | | Clearing House (Dec 2024) | A-Bank (terms read Oct 2026) | |---|---|---| | Max per payment | UAH 100,000 | — | | Per day | — | Less than UAH 400,000 across your hryvnia accounts | | Fee, own money | Free | Bank's tariffs | | Fee, credit money | 3 % or 4 %, depending on the package | — | | Hours | — | 24/7/365 | | Source | [[4]](https://news.finance.ua/ua/myttyevi-perekazy-z-bankom-klirynhovyy-dim) | [[10]](https://a-bank.com.ua/backend/api/v1/condition/pdf/uk/1002) | A-Bank's terms also say an instant transfer can't be recalled once the bank accepts it [[10]](https://a-bank.com.ua/backend/api/v1/condition/pdf/uk/1002). The largest banks' instant-transfer tariffs were not in the pages we could fetch. Limits change; check your bank's current terms. ## Paying shops and businesses The QR code was built with bills in mind. In 2020 the NBU said the common rules served first the businesses that collect payments for state, administrative and utility services, and would also help QR payments for goods and services [[6]](https://www.unian.ua/economics/finance/kreditni-perekazi-nbu-zatverdiv-yedini-pravila-qr-kodiv-novini-ukrajina-11022203.html). The 2025 rules add what a shop needs [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt) [[9]](https://biz.ligazakon.net/news/239832_z-1-listopada-dyatimut-nov-pravila-formuvannya-qr-kodv-dlya-perekazv): - **Locked fields.** The merchant can stop the payer from editing chosen fields, for example the amount. - **Invoice data.** A field for the invoice identifier, plus the invoice's creation date and an expiry date and time after which the code shouldn't be paid. - **Instant or not.** The code can ask for an ordinary transfer (`UCT`), an instant one (`ICT`), or either (`XCT`). - **Online checkout.** A link-type code opens the payer's bank app, so a web shop can take an instant payment without a card. How many shops in Ukraine accept the NBU QR code is not in the sources. PrivatBank's own merchant QR posters are a separate, older product (see [Privat24 QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UA/privat24-qr)). ## Paying across borders SEP 4.1 moves hryvnia between Ukrainian institutions only. The NBU QR format version 003 allows only one currency: the hryvnia [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). Ukraine is not yet in SEPA. In December 2025 the NBU's deputy head said the laws needed to join had been drafted and were awaiting Parliament; banks can begin technical work only once the European Payments Council approves Ukraine's application [[5]](https://aub.org.ua/en/hotovnist-platizhnoho-rynku-ukrainy-do-intehratsii-z-ievropeiskym-platizhnym-prostorom-detali-vid-nbu-2/). In January 2026 the NBU listed multi-currency support and an assessment of integration with SEPA infrastructure among SEP's next steps [[11]](https://epravda.com.ua/biznes/nacbank-posiliv-bezpeku-perekaziv-u-bankivskiy-platizhniy-sistemi-sep-816535/). No date for either is confirmed. ## How the NBU QR code works The code is defined by NBU Resolution No. 97 of 19 August 2025, in force since 1 November 2025 [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). The rules are published in full, with worked examples: - **Plain text, one field per line.** Each field ends with a line feed (`LF`) or `CR LF`. The data starts with the service tag `BCD`, then the format version (`001`, `002` or `003`), an encoding digit (`1` = UTF-8, `2` = Windows-1251 in versions 002 and 003), and the function code. `UCT` stands for "Ukrainian Credit Transfer". - **The fields that follow:** a BIC (reserved, left empty), the recipient's name, a 29-character IBAN, amount and currency (for example `UAH576.45`; empty means the payer types it), the recipient's tax or company code, a purpose code, a reference, the purpose text, and a display text. The order is fixed. - **Version 001** codes hold this text directly, up to 331 bytes, in QR version 13 at most. - **Versions 002 and 003** wrap the same structure in a link: `https://qr.bank.gov.ua/` followed by the data in Base64URL. Version 003 can also use a bank's own domain as the start of the link. Version 003 adds the `ICT`/`XCT` instant-transfer functions, a 4-character field-lock mask, the invoice dates, and a reserved slot for an electronic signature. - **The graphic.** QR version 10 to 20, error correction `L`, `M` or `Q`. Versions 002 and 003 must carry the hryvnia sign in a white circle at the centre, sized by QR version (17 modules across at version 10). With the sign in place, level `L` is not allowed. Printed modules should be at least 0.5 mm. The `BCD` tag and the line-per-field layout echo the European [EPC QR code](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/epc-qr), but the function codes, the fields and the hryvnia-only rule are Ukrainian, so a SEPA banking app won't pay a Ukrainian code. See the [NBU QR standard](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/nbu-qr) for the format itself. So when a Ukrainian utility bill or invoice carries a QR code with a hryvnia sign in the middle, it is this NBU code, and any Ukrainian bank's app should read it. A code without the sign may be an older version 001 code, where the sign is optional, or a bank's own code, such as the ones on [PrivatBank's posters](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UA/privat24-qr). ## Safety: the swapped QR sticker Ukraine's cyber police warned in February 2025 that fraudsters were swapping QR codes on official signs, or sticking their own in public places. The fake codes lead to phishing sites that copy real services and steal card details. It happens most where people pay by QR: parking, public transport, events and charity collections [[12]](https://interfax.com.ua/news/telecom/1051519.html). - **Look at the sticker.** A second layer, uneven edges or a different font can mean it has been replaced [[12]](https://interfax.com.ua/news/telecom/1051519.html). - **Scan inside your bank's app, and read the recipient.** A genuine NBU code fills in a transfer, and the app must show you the recipient and IBAN before you confirm [[2]](https://data.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/v0097500-25.txt). If the name isn't the shop or utility you expect, cancel. - **Never type card details on a page a QR code opened.** An NBU QR transfer is paid from your account inside your app; it doesn't need your card number. An instant transfer can't be recalled once accepted [[10]](https://a-bank.com.ua/backend/api/v1/condition/pdf/uk/1002). ## NBU QR and the alternatives in Ukraine | Way to pay | Best for | Notes | |---|---|---| | **NBU QR / instant transfer** | Bills, invoices, paying a person at another bank | Seconds, up to UAH 100,000; both banks must support instant transfers | | **[Privat24 QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/UA/privat24-qr)** | Utilities, transit tickets, small shops that use PrivatBank posters | Paid in the Privat24 app; PrivatBank's own codes | | **Ordinary SEP transfer by IBAN** | Large amounts | No instant cap; takes minutes [[11]](https://epravda.com.ua/biznes/nacbank-posiliv-bezpeku-perekaziv-u-bankivskiy-platizhniy-sistemi-sep-816535/) | | **Card** | Shops with terminals, online checkout | About 98% of cashless shop payments in 2025 were contactless or by phone [[13]](https://mind.ua/news/20301081-ukrayinci-u-2025-roci-majzhe-povnistyu-perejshli-na-bezgotivkovi-rozrahunki-nbu) | ## Sources 1. LIGA ZAKON Бізнес, "В Україні запрацювала нова версія СЕП з функціональністю миттєвих переказів", 2 Dec 2024. 2. National Bank of Ukraine, Resolution No. 97 of 19 August 2025, "Про затвердження Правил формування, передачі та обробки структури даних і графічного зображення QR-коду для обміну реквізитами кредитових та миттєвих кредитових переказів" (as amended by Resolution No. 128 of 11 Oct 2025), text from the Verkhovna Rada legislation database, read 19 Oct 2026. 3. Interfax-Ukraine, "Нацбанк очікує запуск усіма системними банками миттєвих переказів у I півріччі-2025", 20 Mar 2025. 4. Finance.ua (promotional text by Bank Clearing House), "Миттєві перекази з Банком «Кліринговий Дім»", 2 Dec 2024. 5. Association of Ukrainian Banks, "Readiness of Ukraine's payment market for integration with the European payment area: details from the NBU", 23 Dec 2025. 6. UNIAN, "Кредитові перекази - НБУ затвердив єдині правила QR-кодів", 3 Jun 2020. 7. Ukrinform, "Нацбанк пропонує оновити правила використання QR-кодів для кредитових переказів", 11 May 2025. 8. Mind.ua, "СЕП прискорюється: у 2025 році – 595 млн платежів і новий сервіс трекінгу", 14 Jan 2026. 9. LIGA ZAKON Бізнес, "З 1 листопада діятимуть нові правила формування QR-кодів для переказів", 22 Oct 2025. 10. A-Bank, account terms, section 7 "Які правила та особливості надання послуги «Миттєвий переказ на IBAN»" (PDF), read 19 Oct 2026. 11. Економічна правда, "Нацбанк посилив безпеку переказів у банківській платіжній системі СЕП", 14 Jan 2026. 12. Interfax-Ukraine, "Кіберполіція попереджає про нову схему шахрайства з QR-кодами в громадських місцях", 27 Feb 2025. 13. Mind, "Українці у 2025 році майже повністю перейшли на безготівкові розрахунки – НБУ", 16 Feb 2026. *Researched 19 October 2026. Limits and bank offerings change; the banks' own pages are authoritative.*