NovaPay to pay UAH 90 million fine and change its rules of operation
9 June 12:53
NovaPay payment system, which operates as part of the Nova Poshta group of companies, will pay a fine of UAH 90.66 million imposed by the National Bank of Ukraine. The company said that it would not appeal the decision and has already begun to implement new rules to avoid similar situations in the future, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The reason for the fine is a violation of financial monitoring
According to the NBU press service, the sanctions relate to violations of legislation on money laundering prevention and currency regulation.
The National Bank has identified a number of violations in the field of prevention of money laundering (AML/CFT), as well as in the field of currency legislation. Key issues:
1. Inadequate organization of financial monitoring:
- Weak risk management system for new information products.
- Insufficiently developed internal AML/CFT documents.
- Formal risk-oriented approach without taking into account the specifics of clients.
- Superficial due diligence of new and existing customers.
- Late detection of suspicious financial transactions.
- Lack of full and prompt exchange of information with the regulator.
- Failure to provide documents and explanations in response to NBU requests in a timely manner.
2. Written warning for working with politically exposed persons:
- No additional due diligence was conducted on clients associated with politically exposed persons.
- Not all payment transactions were accompanied by the necessary information about the recipient.
- Violations in the maintenance of customer profiles.
- Failure to update statistical reports in a timely manner during the special period.
3. Violation of currency legislation:
- NovaPay carried out cross-border transfers of currency values from the accounts of individuals without a license from the NBU, which is a direct violation of the Law on Currency and Currency Transactions.
The company responds by changing its cash on delivery policy
The press service of Nova Poshta emphasized that the fine will be paid in full and on time. The company is not appealing the regulator’s decision.
To prevent further sanctions, NovaPay has already implemented changes:
- monitoring of the regularity and volume of cash on delivery payments from individuals has been strengthened;
- internal control procedures have been improved, which the NBU drew attention to.
What you need to know about NovaPay
NovaPay is a non-bank financial institution that has been serving customers online and in more than 3,500 Nova Poshta branches across Ukraine for over 12 years.
In April 2023, the company received an expanded license from the NBU, becoming the first non-bank institution in Ukraine to have the right to
- open accounts,
- issue payment and credit cards,
- provide acquiring and money transfer services.
NovaPay’s financial results in 2024
In the first three quarters of 2024, the company
- processed 292 million transactions (16% by 2023),
- made transfers in the amount of UAH 213.7 billion (29% compared to last year)
- paid more than UAH 1 billion in taxes to the budget (22%),
- allocated UAH 4.5 million to support the Armed Forces and humanitarian initiatives.
