Challenges and prospects of virtual banking in Ukraine

Abstract

The essence of banking business virtualization is considered in this paper. It is noted that this process is an automated delivery of new and traditional banking products and services directly to customers by means of electronic, interactive communication channels. At present, most experts consider virtual banking to be the most promising electronic channel for providing banking services, as it allows you to implement an effective marketing concept of «the bank that is always with you». Virtual banking provides a transition from the traditional way of personal communication of customers with the bank's representatives face-to-face indoors during working hours to remote by connecting to the network anywhere at any time (24 hours a day, seven days a week). Trends in the development of virtual banking are systematized and the key ones are: active use of P2P transfers and increase in the number of payment services for utility and other bills; the growing popularity of making payments using smartphone; support of a single standard for electronic remote identification of BankID customers by the National Bank; active development of P2P lending. Features of electronic identification of the person through Bank-ID which allows confirmation of the user identity, using his bank data, and to receive remote access to administrative, financial, and commercial services are considered. In order to use Bank-ID, simply enter the login and password of Internet banking, from which the government receive the necessary information (passport data, identification code, etc.). It is revealed that today more than 40 participants are connected to the BankID system of the NBU and some banks are still at the testing stage. The provisions of the NBU Fintech Development Strategy until 2025 are analyzed. The strategy defines the priorities and goals of the Ukrainian financial sector development until 2025. The main problems of the virtual banking development in Ukraine are highlighted and it is noted that the cost of digital transformation is the most important barrier to the introduction of new technologies and the transformation of traditional bank into virtual one. Based on the analysis, conclusions about the importance of the banking business virtualization, especially in the current pandemic Covid-19, are substantiated.