Author: Ivan Chebotarov, CEO & Co-Founder of WoBorders
All references to the Monobank brand have been approved
Ukrainian entrepreneurs often register companies abroad—in Estonia, Poland, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, or the United States. At the same time, part of the team and some contractors continue to work in Ukraine. The foreign company receives payments from international clients but must regularly pay Ukrainian sole proprietors and other business partners.
If a company works with several contractors, organizing payments is relatively simple. It gets more complicated when there are 30, 50, or even 100 recipients, and funds must be transferred from abroad to each one every month.
Each payment requires verification of the bank details, amount, and payment description. After sending the funds, you need to verify that they have been credited and reconcile the transactions with the invoices. If the bank delays or returns the transfer, you have to investigate the reason separately and reauthorize the payment. When there are dozens of such transactions, the accounting department spends a considerable amount of time just on these calculations.
Another issue is bank fees. For each international transfer, the company pays a bank fee, and depending on the payment terms, additional costs for correspondent banks and currency conversion may apply. With many recipients, total fees can add up quickly, especially for regular small payments.
Estimated cost of SWIFT transfers:
- Standard SWIFT transfer — approximately €10–30 in fees charged by the sending bank
- SWIFT transfer with the OUR fee type, where the sender covers the costs of correspondent banks — €20–50
- Express SWIFT transfer — €40–60
The actual cost depends on the bank's rates, the currency, and the transfer terms. Correspondent banks may also charge additional fees.
To avoid making a separate international transfer to each contractor, the company can use a transit account for bulk payments.
Our partner, Monobank, offers a service called “Bulk payments for international companies” for this purpose. It involves transferring funds from a foreign company to a transit account and then distributing them among Ukrainian recipients.
- A foreign company transfers the total amount for payments to Ukrainian contractors to a transit account in a single payment.
- Prepares and submits to the bank a payment register containing the recipients' details and the amounts.
- Monobank distributes funds among Ukrainian recipients in accordance with the provided list.
Who might benefit from mass payments?
Mass payments have been used in Ukraine for a long time. IT companies are very familiar with this mechanism; even before the full-scale invasion, they were actively recruiting Ukrainian developers, designers, testers, and other specialists to work for foreign companies.
With many contractors, it's easier to process payments through a single registry than to make dozens of international transfers each month.
But these challenges aren’t limited to the IT industry. Marketing and advertising agencies regularly pay designers, copywriters, and advertising specialists. Recruitment firms work with independent recruiters, while consulting and outsourcing companies hire Ukrainian specialists to carry out projects for foreign clients.
Bulk payments can also help trading or logistics companies with many local partners in Ukraine that regularly pay for their services.
The key factor here is less the industry in which the company operates and more the number and frequency of payments. If a foreign business makes monthly payments to dozens of Ukrainian counterparties, it makes sense to consider making such payments through a transit account.
How do mass payments through a transit account work?
For example, you have an Estonian company, which develops software for European clients. Thirty Ukrainian sole proprietors—developers, designers, testers, and marketers—are working on these projects.
Every month, contractors issue invoices for services rendered, and the company must pay them. Under the usual procedure, this would require 30 separate international wire transfers.
Using a Monobank transit account, payments can be handled differently. Through the “Bulk Payments for International Companies” service, a foreign company transfers the total amount in a single payment to cover all invoices.
| Column Name | Instructions for Completion | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Payer's IBAN | An account in IBAN format, opened for the company at monobank | UA12322001000002909XXXXXXXXXX |
| Amount | The amount to be credited to the sole proprietor's account | 3 000,00 |
| Currency | Payment currency. Must match the currency of the payer's account | EUR |
| Recipient's IBAN | Sole proprietor's account in IBAN format, opened at monobank | UA08322001000002600XXXXXXXXXX |
| Recipient's Name | Recipient's surname, first name and patronymic | Ivanov Ivan Ivanovych |
| Recipient's Identification Code | Recipient's Tax Identification Number (TIN) | 1234567890 |
| Payment Purpose | Payment for ___ services, Agreement No. ___ dated ___, Invoice No. ___ (if available) | Payment for IT services, Agreement No. 12345 dated 05.11.2019 |
The company is also preparing a list containing the contractors’ bank details and payment amounts. The company submits this list via the online portal, after which Monobank distributes the funds to Ukrainian recipients. For subsequent payments, it is sufficient to create a new list with the current amounts and a list of contractors.
At WoBorders, we often recommend that our clients use transit accounts for these types of transactions. One common example is— a foreign company has a corporate account with Payoneer, into which it receives payments from customers. From this account, it transfers the total amount to a Monobank transit account, from which the funds are distributed among Ukrainian sole proprietors according to the registry.
We recommend paying special attention to the remaining funds in the transit account. If, after making payments, some funds remain unused, we recommend, whenever possible, returning them to the foreign company’s account within each reporting month. This helps avoid unnecessary discrepancies during payment reconciliation and accounting in the country where the company is registered. The bank and the accountant who handles the company's books must agree in advance on the feasibility and procedure for such a return.
If your foreign company regularly pays Ukrainian sole proprietors, contact WoBorders. We’ll help you determine whether a transit account is right for you and how to properly set up payments in accordance with bank and accounting requirements.
