Ukraine is gaining support from global FinTech companies

By Puja Sharma

In the wake of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, financial technology companies from around the world have taken steps to assist those in the war-torn country or fleeing from it.

It is not surprising that so many FinTech companies took action to support Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, as FinTech companies are known for being innovative and able to adapt to any situation. The Ukrainian people have been supported by companies and lenders who have provided work visas, donated money, or provided shelter from military attacks.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ukrainian Web3 company Everstake have teamed up to launch Aid for Ukraine using Solana, the public blockchain platform. In total, $1.4m in Sol has been raised by the decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) to help Ukraine cover supplies of military ammunition, food, clothing, medicine, and more.

Innovate Finance has been working on ways that members can work together to support those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and urged firms to support the implementation of government sanctions on Russia and screen customers to remain compliant. To remain compliant, FinTech trade groups, including Blend Network and Funding Circle, said firms must support the implementation of government sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, Zopa Bank has announced that it will support up to 50 work visas for eligible Ukrainian applicants already in the UK with backgrounds in engineering, technology, and data analytics or with experience in consumer financial services. The bank has called on the wider FinTech community to provide employment for Ukrainians in the UK and to help those fleeing the Russian invasion.

European peer-to-peer lending platform Twino has partnered with other FinTech companies and Latvian businesses to financially support Ukraine and has launched a fundraising campaign to raise at least €5m (£4.13m) to help the Ukrainian people.

After reducing its exposure to the Russian market, European peer-to-peer platform Twino has announced plans to increase opportunities for investing in loans from European and Asian operations, as well as real estate loans. The company said it will report more frequently on its plans to mitigate the impact of Russian sanctions on its loan book in an update to investors.

Bondora’s founder and chief executive Pärtel Tomberg has outlined that his European P2P platform is donating to Mondo, a non-government organisation that is providing humanitarian relief in Ukraine to those who need it, while also helping employees’ families relocate. Bondora’s founder and CEO Pärtel Tomberg explained how his peer-to-peer lending platform is helping Ukraine and its people. Despite the crisis, however, he pointed out that the platform’s active loan markets are Estonia, Finland, and Spain.

Canadian credit union Vancity has temporarily waived wire transfer fees to send money to Ukraine. It has also donated $50,000 in total to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and local Ukrainian organisations in Canada. The Credit Thing, a UK FinTech founded by Misha Rogalskiy, co-founder of Monobank, Ukraine’s first mobile-only bank, has added a feature to its app that lets customers donate to Ukraine’s efforts.

As a whole, FinTechs are agile enough to respond quickly to economic disruption, while FinTech movements like cryptocurrency are uncorrelated from mainstream markets and able to maintain value pretty well. It was reported earlier this week that up to $50m (£37.8m) had been sent to Ukraine via cryptocurrency donations. A non-fungible token to support the armed forces is soon to be introduced, as stated by Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.