21.11.2025
Digital Banking Conference 2025 results: clear about digital transformation
The sixth Digital Banking Conference, an annual event organized by the Ukrainian Association of Fintech and Innovation Companies (UAFIC), took place in Kyiv on November 12. This year, the conference became a key platform for discussing AI, Open Banking, and RegTech in the context of the transformation of Ukraine’s financial sector.
The event brought together 400+ participants, 35+ speakers and provided over 9 hours of active dialogue between representatives of the banking sector, IT industry, international delegations and the state. Key speakers included Zarina Odinaeva (IFC, World Bank Group), Oleksandr Yablunivskyi (Visa), Yannis Kyriakopoulos (Piraeus Bank MKB), Jose M. Moreno de Barreda (IFC, World Bank Group), Dmytro Musienko (PrivatBank), Anton Tyutyun (Oschadbank) and others.
Kevin Tomlinson, World Bank Operations Manager for Eastern Europe, delivered a welcoming speech. He noted that digitalization is deeply integrated into the everyday lives of Ukrainians: invoicing, money transfers, instant payments – all this happens quickly, conveniently and reliably. In most countries, digital transformation is about convenience, in Ukraine – today it is primarily about sustainability, like many other processes. Even in these extremely difficult times, Ukrainian banks, fintech companies and the regulator continue to work and provide services, ensuring the operation of systems, processing payments and at the same time developing innovations. And this requires not just skills, but also vision. Ukraine has a powerful strategic vision.
Technologies — as evolution, not revolution
The official program was opened by a conversation between Rostyslav Dyukov and Oleksiy Shaban, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, about the role of the regulator in the development of Open Banking, the use of AI in the financial sector, the challenges of social engineering and the fight against fraud.
Oleksiy Shaban compared artificial intelligence to the invention of the steam engine or mobile communications — technologies that first cause a stir, and later become an integral part of life. That is why it is worth integrating intelligent solutions into banking processes now, laying the foundation for sustainable and safe market development.
“When we launched Digital Banking five years ago, we did not even expect that this format would be so interesting to the Ukrainian audience and become an annual event that is awaited by the professional community. In 2025, we chose artificial intelligence as the main topic. This is a trend that we observe today in all areas of finance, banking and technology. I am glad that we managed to create a platform where AI transformation is discussed not theoretically, but through the prism of cases, partnerships and the experience of those who shape the fintech future of Ukraine,” said Rostyslav Dyuk, Chairman of the Board of UAFIC.
New Opportunities for Banks: Innovative Solutions from Visa
An important part of the program was the speech of Oleksandr Yablunivsky, Vice President of Products and Solutions at Visa, who outlined the vision of modernization of banking infrastructure and showed that outdated systems are one of the key barriers to development today. He presented two solutions from the Visa ecosystem: Pismo, a cloud platform for flexible, phased modernization without interruption in operations, and Featurespace, a behavioral analytics system capable of detecting fraud in real time.
Oleksandr emphasized that the combination of these technologies allows banks to strengthen security, optimize processes and create next-generation customer services.
AI - a tool that empowers people
During the following discussions, speakers spoke about the real transformations that AI is already bringing to the financial sector today. As Oleksiy Vovk, head of the Action Implementation team, noted:
“Our support service processes the vast majority of requests using artificial intelligence. This is a pretty good example of optimizing people’s work and simplifying it. When working on our partners’ cases, namely selecting integration scenarios for them, our specialist used to spend about 30% of his time on this. Now he spends zero, because artificial intelligence completely covers these needs.”
His case showed how AI-driven automation can free specialists from routine tasks while maintaining the quality of service. This is an example of intelligent optimization, when technology does not replace a person, but expands their capabilities.
Human control is the key to trust
However, the fintech community has come to the same conclusion: automation cannot exist without human control.
“We want to maintain a balance between what AI can replace and what it cannot. For example, AI can delegate routine tasks such as searching for a product, adding it to the cart, etc. But control over the payment process must remain with a human. Security is a priority,” emphasized Yevgeny Bilodid, Director of Digital Solutions at Visa in the Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
This is an example of the “human-in-the-loop AI” concept, where technology and humans work synergistically. For fintech and banks, this means one thing: innovation cannot be at the expense of security, ethics and user trust.
Innovations only make sense where they are needed
Summing up, Oleksiy Kasumov, IT systems architect at Sense Bank, summed up: “We are not trying to put AI on a pedestal… It is a tool that has its advantages and disadvantages. And our task is to learn how to use it correctly and apply it exactly where it is justified; exactly where it makes sense.”
This approach is a reflection of a mature fintech culture, where data-driven approaches, analytics and automation are not buzzwords, but tools for business development and customer trust.
Visa was the general partner of Digital Banking 2025, Sense Bank became the general partner bank. PayForce was the strategic partner, Identomat was the international strategic partner. UPC and BANZA were the special partners of the event. VKURSI was the partner in the field of digital transformation of customer verification. Activitis was the official partner of the conference. The main media partner of the conference was Fintech Insider. The ecosystem partner of the event is DoWithUA.
Media support was provided by KOSHT-media and ua.news, and the information partners of the event were NABU, SPEKA, MTIBU and Marketer.
Digital Banking Conference 2025 confirmed: technologies have real value when they empower people, ensure sustainability and create a new level of efficiency and security in the financial sector of Ukraine. AI, Open Banking and RegTech are not about replacing specialists, but about expanding their capabilities and shaping the future of fintech.
Kevin Tomlinson, World Bank Operations Manager for Eastern Europe, delivered a welcoming speech. He noted that digitalization is deeply integrated into the everyday lives of Ukrainians: invoicing, money transfers, instant payments – all this happens quickly, conveniently and reliably. In most countries, digital transformation is about convenience, in Ukraine – today it is primarily about sustainability, like many other processes. Even in these extremely difficult times, Ukrainian banks, fintech companies and the regulator continue to work and provide services, ensuring the operation of systems, processing payments and at the same time developing innovations. And this requires not just skills, but also vision. Ukraine has a powerful strategic vision.
Technologies — as evolution, not revolution
The official program was opened by a conversation between Rostyslav Dyukov and Oleksiy Shaban, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, about the role of the regulator in the development of Open Banking, the use of AI in the financial sector, the challenges of social engineering and the fight against fraud.
Oleksiy Shaban compared artificial intelligence to the invention of the steam engine or mobile communications — technologies that first cause a stir, and later become an integral part of life. That is why it is worth integrating intelligent solutions into banking processes now, laying the foundation for sustainable and safe market development.
“When we launched Digital Banking five years ago, we did not even expect that this format would be so interesting to the Ukrainian audience and become an annual event that is awaited by the professional community. In 2025, we chose artificial intelligence as the main topic. This is a trend that we observe today in all areas of finance, banking and technology. I am glad that we managed to create a platform where AI transformation is discussed not theoretically, but through the prism of cases, partnerships and the experience of those who shape the fintech future of Ukraine,” said Rostyslav Dyuk, Chairman of the Board of UAFIC.
New Opportunities for Banks: Innovative Solutions from Visa
An important part of the program was the speech of Oleksandr Yablunivsky, Vice President of Products and Solutions at Visa, who outlined the vision of modernization of banking infrastructure and showed that outdated systems are one of the key barriers to development today. He presented two solutions from the Visa ecosystem: Pismo, a cloud platform for flexible, phased modernization without interruption in operations, and Featurespace, a behavioral analytics system capable of detecting fraud in real time.
Oleksandr emphasized that the combination of these technologies allows banks to strengthen security, optimize processes and create next-generation customer services.
AI - a tool that empowers people
During the following discussions, speakers spoke about the real transformations that AI is already bringing to the financial sector today. As Oleksiy Vovk, head of the Action Implementation team, noted:
“Our support service processes the vast majority of requests using artificial intelligence. This is a pretty good example of optimizing people’s work and simplifying it. When working on our partners’ cases, namely selecting integration scenarios for them, our specialist used to spend about 30% of his time on this. Now he spends zero, because artificial intelligence completely covers these needs.”
His case showed how AI-driven automation can free specialists from routine tasks while maintaining the quality of service. This is an example of intelligent optimization, when technology does not replace a person, but expands their capabilities.
Human control is the key to trust
However, the fintech community has come to the same conclusion: automation cannot exist without human control.
“We want to maintain a balance between what AI can replace and what it cannot. For example, AI can delegate routine tasks such as searching for a product, adding it to the cart, etc. But control over the payment process must remain with a human. Security is a priority,” emphasized Yevgeny Bilodid, Director of Digital Solutions at Visa in the Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus region.
This is an example of the “human-in-the-loop AI” concept, where technology and humans work synergistically. For fintech and banks, this means one thing: innovation cannot be at the expense of security, ethics and user trust.
Innovations only make sense where they are needed
Summing up, Oleksiy Kasumov, IT systems architect at Sense Bank, summed up: “We are not trying to put AI on a pedestal… It is a tool that has its advantages and disadvantages. And our task is to learn how to use it correctly and apply it exactly where it is justified; exactly where it makes sense.”
This approach is a reflection of a mature fintech culture, where data-driven approaches, analytics and automation are not buzzwords, but tools for business development and customer trust.
Visa was the general partner of Digital Banking 2025, Sense Bank became the general partner bank. PayForce was the strategic partner, Identomat was the international strategic partner. UPC and BANZA were the special partners of the event. VKURSI was the partner in the field of digital transformation of customer verification. Activitis was the official partner of the conference. The main media partner of the conference was Fintech Insider. The ecosystem partner of the event is DoWithUA.
Media support was provided by KOSHT-media and ua.news, and the information partners of the event were NABU, SPEKA, MTIBU and Marketer.
Digital Banking Conference 2025 confirmed: technologies have real value when they empower people, ensure sustainability and create a new level of efficiency and security in the financial sector of Ukraine. AI, Open Banking and RegTech are not about replacing specialists, but about expanding their capabilities and shaping the future of fintech.
Підпишіться на нашу розсилку
та отримуйте останні новини, свіжі інсайти та спеціальні пропозиції двічі на місяць