OTP Bank in Ukraine: account and features of bank transfers in hryvnias (UAH)
History of the bank
The history of OTP Bank began with the founding of the First National Savings Bank of Pest in 1839 — 1840. In 1948, the bank was nationalized, and a year later, its assets were transferred to the Savings Banking Company, one of the four major financial institutions, along with the Hungarian National Bank, the Hungarian Investment Bank and the Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank.
OTP Bank was privatized only in 1995 after the company's shares were listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange when the share of state-owned assets was reduced to 25%. In the same year, OTP Bank was bought by Mercantile Bank and started to expand its business by opening branches in other regions.
In the early 2000s, OTP Bank opened representative offices in Ukraine, absorbing Raiffeisenbank.
Financial indicators and rating of OTP Bank
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), OTP Bank's assets as of July 2023 are UAH 92.97 billion. The branch ranks 10th among the banks of Ukraine in terms of assets. In the rating of stability of banks, OTP Bank takes 5th place with a total score of 3.95. Currently, there are at least 92 branches of OTP Bank in Ukraine.
According to the national scale of Credit Rating agencies, the bank has been assigned the highest rating uaAAA. However, in the international classification, the assessment is ambiguous:
- Moody's assigned the bank a rating from Baa1 to Ba3;
- S&P Global — BBB;
- Lianhe — AAA;
- Scope — BBB+.
What services OTP Bank provides to its clients
OTP Bank of Ukraine provides its clients with a wide range of banking services, which are also available through online banking:
- Issuance of payment debit and credit cards;
- Premium banking;
- Money transfers, including card-to-card transfers;
- Transfers from EU to Ukraine;
- Savings and investment accounts;
- Cash loans, consumer loans and loans secured by a used car, as well as instalments;
- Insurance.
Premium services:
- Personalized manager;
- Personalized 24/7 Premium Line;
- Premium card, which can be obtained at any bank branch.
OTP Bank provides two premium packages: Black Edition and Lite. Premium package Black Edition, in addition to the above, includes:
- Free servicing of the account in hryvnias;
- Higher rate on deposits;
- Discounts on transfers abroad;
- Free access to premium Smart Fee services;
- Free SMS-informing;
- Secured lending on favourable personal terms;
- Online management of personal finances and special currency exchange rates through OTP Smart and OTP Credit, available 24/7;
- Best currency conversion rate without commission.
Is it possible to open a hryvnia account in the OTP Bank of Ukraine for non-residents?
In 2019, the NBU adopted a resolution on the right to open bank accounts for non-residents in the national currency, hryvnias, US dollars and euros. Foreign citizens can open deposit and investment accounts at a personal visit to the office.
However, the right to accept or reject a client's application lies with the bank, so in some cases, intermediaries may be required to assist in opening an account.
In case of successful account opening, non-residents will have access to all products and services provided by the bank, in particular:
- Crediting of funds from a foreign bank account, as well as for export contracts;
- Currency conversion;
- Transfers between accounts of Ukrainian banks;
- Deposits and investments;
- Cash withdrawals in hryvnias and currencies (the latter only at bank branches).
Difficulties may arise only when claiming credit products: foreign citizens have no credit history, which is, by default, one of the red flags when issuing loans.
Advantages and disadvantages
Let's highlight the main advantages of OTP Bank:
- A wide range of services, including investment products;
- Premium banking;
- Deposits with high rates — up to 12% per annum;
- It is one of the largest banks, with a market share of 25%;
- Highest rating according to the NBU;
- 5th place among Ukrainian banks in terms of stability;
- Credit cards with a grace period.
Minuses of OTP Bank:
- A small number of branches: for comparison, PrivatBank has more than 4,000 of them;
- Interest on the balance is not accrued on many cards of the bank.
