Until August 7, a bank could simply deposit money with the NBU under a three-month deposit certificate and receive it back with interest — practically without risk and without effort. Applications were satisfied in full, no matter how much money a bank brought. It was easy earnings at the state's expense, separate from whether the bank was straining to attract deposits from the population.
From August 7, this "safe harbor" is being narrowed. The NBU is introducing interest-based tenders with a predetermined volume limit — once every two weeks. Those who didn't have time or offered worse terms didn't get placed. The regulator will announce the tender volume in advance, and the results — already after the fact.
What this means for the bank and its client
The key nuance: a bank's access to this instrument is now tied to how actively it attracts term hryvnia deposits from the population itself. In simple terms — want to park money with the NBU for interest, first do the work of attracting depositors: offer them a competitive rate, attractive terms, compete for deposits instead of relying on a state instrument as a backup option.
For a depositor, this is a practical signal: competition among banks for household deposits should intensify, and therefore — it's worth monitoring offers, because rates on term deposits could rise even more. Already now the average yield on hryvnia deposits exceeds 14% compared to 9-12% in 2022, and this with a lower discount rate than could have been the case under the old rules of the game.
Why the NBU is doing this
The regulator acknowledges: the 2023 model did its job — raised the role of the discount rate, spurred competition for deposits. But now, as lending is picking up and the money market is becoming more active, the old scheme started to slow things down rather than stimulate them. The goal of modernization is for the discount rate (currently 15.5%) to work as a real market benchmark, not just a figure on paper.
Tender volumes will be determined taking into account the need to maintain the attractiveness of hryvnia instruments for savings and at the same time push banks to compete more actively for depositors, the NBU reported.
The scale of changes in deposits is already noticeable: since the beginning of 2026, the volume of term hryvnia deposits from the population has grown by almost 10%, and since the start of the full-scale war — doubled. Investments in hryvnia government bonds increased by 1.5 times over the year and almost eight times — since the beginning of the invasion.
The first tender under the new rules will take place on August 7 itself. If the limits turn out to be tight and banks don't have time to raise rates for depositors, could this cause a temporary shortage of "risk-free" returns for smaller banks that have relied on certificates as their main instrument for placing liquidity?
