The Nova group of companies, which includes Nova Poshta, Nova Post, NovaPay, Nova Digital, and Nova Airlines, is probably preparing to launch its own financial institution.
The Nova group of companies, which includes Nova Poshta, Nova Post, NovaPay, Nova Digital, and Nova Airlines, is probably preparing to launch its own financial institution.
In April, the company filed applications with Ukrpatent for registration of the trademarks Nova Bank and NovaPay Bank, kosht.media writes .
The applicant is not formally disclosed in the documents. However, given the brand’s recognition and trademark protection practices, the likelihood that it is an outside player is virtually zero, the publication notes.
The emergence of such applications seems logical. After the restructuring of the business around the Nova brand, the group includes not only the logistics company Nova Poshta, but also Nova Post, the financial service NovaPay, and the airline Supernova Airlines.
The idea of its own bank has been discussed in the market for a long time. Previously, the group’s co-owner Vyacheslav Klimov directly confirmed that the company is looking for a bank to buy, and NovaPay can evolve into a full-fledged banking institution.
Despite the fact that NovaPay already provides a significant portion of basic financial services — opening accounts, cards, and payments — its status as a financial company imposes restrictions.
In particular, this concerns the inability to attract deposits, restrictions on currency transactions, and the lack of full-fledged work abroad.
This means that users cannot, for example, pay with service cards outside of Ukraine or pay for foreign services in foreign currency. Obtaining a banking license removes these restrictions and opens up a new level of competition with traditional banks.
Nova Group previously announced plans to create a financial inclusion bank, a new format that allows it to work with clients without extensive physical infrastructure. This approach makes it possible to scale faster and work in small settlements where the traditional banking model is economically difficult.
According to Vyacheslav Klymov, the company is considering the possibility of providing loans and deposits to individuals, microbusinesses, and small enterprises.
The market has been discussing possible deals for several years. Among the unofficial options were Idea Bank (eventually acquired by Serhiy Tigipko), Bank Lviv (which was bought by Credit Agricole), and Bank Avangard. None of these scenarios have been publicly confirmed, but the fact of the search for an asset was previously acknowledged by the company.
The idea of a financial inclusion bank is not new. The first to try to implement it was Ukrposhta, which has been promoting the creation of its own bank since 2017.
It was under this model that legislative changes were adopted in Ukraine. However, the process was delayed, in particular due to the difficult relationship between the management of Ukrposhta and the National Bank of Ukraine.
Against this background, Nova may become the first player to actually bring this model to launch.
