Disbursing incentive payments in Ukraine

Challenge

In 2021, Ukraine was experiencing rising COVID-19 cases amidst low vaccination rates and protests against vaccine mandates. To overcome this, the Ukrainian government decided that every fully vaccinated adult would receive UAH 1000 (~$35 USD) as a one-time disbursement. 

 

Our involvement

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation (MIDT) expanded an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Visa, and we worked with issuer banks to enable digital issuance of funds to citizens within a quick turn-around time. 

Using merchant category codes (MCC), the Ukrainian government was also able to limit transactions to specific merchants in the entertainment, travel, and sports facilities industries, and effectively disburse the funds to its citizens.

 

Outcome

This is the first government-to-consumer disbursement programme in Ukraine with Visa as the strategic partner of the Ukrainian government via MIDT.