As of September 1, 2026, PrivatBank has finally ended the discounted rates on card-to-card international transfers that had been in place for the past several months. For the millions of Ukrainians who regularly send money to relatives abroad, receive payments from foreign clients, or support children studying overseas, this means one thing: the same transaction now costs more — and in one direction, the fee has effectively doubled.
What exactly changed in the fee schedule
Through August 31, 2026, PrivatBank kept so-called preferential rates in place: 1% of the amount for a transfer from a foreign bank card to a PrivatBank card (instead of the standard 1.5%), and 1%, with a minimum of 50 UAH, for a transfer from a PrivatBank foreign-currency card to an overseas account (instead of the standard 2%). From September, the bank reverted to its base tariffs.
- Incoming transfer (from a foreign bank card to a PrivatBank card): the fee rose from 1% to 1.5% of the amount.
- Outgoing transfer (from a PrivatBank foreign-currency card to a card or account abroad): the fee rose from 1% (minimum 50 UAH) to 2% of the amount — exactly double.
At first glance, a difference of one to one-and-a-half percentage points looks minor. But for people making regular transfers of several hundred or thousand dollars, the difference becomes noticeable within the very first month.
Why the bank is raising fees right now
The bank's official explanation comes down to three points: rising costs of maintaining payment infrastructure, the need to modernize digital services, and stronger protection of customer data. All of that genuinely costs money, and Ukrainian banks have indeed been investing heavily in cybersecurity and more resilient systems in recent years — a trend that goes well beyond PrivatBank alone.
Still, it's worth looking at the bigger picture. International transfers are one of the few retail-banking segments where banks can still raise prices relatively freely without risking a mass exodus of customers — there simply aren't that many alternatives, and the service itself largely has no fixed regulatory ceiling. When one of the largest players on the market restores fees to a previous, higher level, other banks often follow suit with some lag, precisely because competitive pressure on this particular service is weaker than, say, on standard card maintenance.
What this looks like in real money
A simple example illustrates the effect. If you send the equivalent of 500 dollars to family abroad every month from a PrivatBank foreign-currency card, the fee before September was roughly 5 dollars (1%, above the 50 UAH minimum); now it rises to 10 dollars. Over a year, that difference adds up to about 60 dollars — enough for several extra products or services.
For larger amounts, the effect is proportionally bigger. Say a freelancer receives 1,500 dollars a month from a foreign client onto a PrivatBank card — that falls under the incoming-transfer tariff, and the fee rises from 15 to 22.5 dollars per transaction. Over a year, that's more than 90 dollars in extra fees on a single incoming channel alone.
For families split by the war who send money in both directions — supporting children abroad and sending funds back to Ukraine for utility bills or to help parents — the doubled outgoing fee is felt most sharply, since that is exactly where the rate increased the most.
Who is affected the most
- Ukrainians abroad who regularly send money to relatives who stayed in Ukraine, or receive support from home.
- Freelancers and IT specialists who get paid by foreign clients onto a card and previously relied on the discounted rate for incoming transfers.
- Parents of students who send money every month to cover tuition and living costs abroad.
- Small businesses and sole proprietors who settle with foreign partners through a personal card channel rather than a dedicated business account with separate terms.
How to cut transfer costs right now
Avoiding fees entirely is unlikely, but a few practical steps can meaningfully reduce your monthly losses.
- Compare terms across banks before making your next transfer. International transfer fees vary significantly between banks, and what's a good deal at one bank can be considerably more expensive at another. Before opening a new card specifically for transfers, it's worth taking the time to compare personal accounts based on their actual servicing terms rather than marketing promises.
- Consolidate transfers where possible. Since the fee is mostly percentage-based, fewer, larger transfers per month are often cheaper than several small ones — especially when a fixed minimum fee applies.
- Keep a currency balance in an interest-bearing account rather than transferring it out immediately after it arrives. If the money isn't needed right away, it's more efficient to park it in a short-term deposit or savings account than to convert and transfer it in pieces. It's worth checking current terms on savings accounts in advance — some banks offer decent interest even on funds that are only temporarily "waiting" to be transferred.
- Consider a term deposit instead of frequent small transfers if your goal is accumulation rather than continuously topping up someone else's budget abroad. Comparing current deposit rates can help you decide whether it's more cost-effective to build up an amount and transfer it in one go.
- Read your bank's notifications carefully. Fee changes like this are usually announced in advance through the app or SMS, but it's easy to miss them among other messages. It's worth checking your bank's current transfer tariff plan yourself once a quarter.
Bottom line
PrivatBank's fee increase isn't a catastrophe, but it is a very real signal: promotional periods eventually end, and the cost of international transfers in Ukraine will most likely keep creeping upward, in line with broader trends in the banking sector. The best strategy for any customer is not to wait until fees eat up a noticeable chunk of the amount, but to regularly check your bank's terms against the market. Start with one simple step: verify whether your current account and the way you hold your foreign currency are still the most cost-effective option under the new tariffs, and use BankSorter's comparison tools if you need to find terms that genuinely match your transfer habits.