We heartily welcome you to Europe. We are Bitsafe, a financial institution regulated and licensed by the Dutch Central Bank. A place where you can store your money, and where you can get a debit card to pay for goods and services. For free.
Bitsafe offers a European SEPA account with Netherlands IBAN, for example NL16BITS9000000000. Bitsafe acts as your custodian. That means that your money is safely stored at the European Central Bank. We don't use your money for lending or speculation. Your money is yours and available at your disposal for SEPA transfers, wires, ACH transfers, ATM withdrawals and purchases with your debit card.
All Ukrainian residents that are temporarily or permanently residing outside of Ukraine are able to get a free Mastercard Debit Card.
You do not need a permanent place of residence in Europe
We board everyone who are able to show their Ukrainian ID card or passport
Onboarding is done through the Bitsafe App, available for both iOS and Android mobile phones
Cards are sent all over Europe or available at one of our pick-up locations
Bitsafe is an electronic money institution based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We have passported our license all over Europe. Bitsafe issues IBANs and debit cards. Our revenue is only generated on transactions. The funds held in all the Bitsafe accounts are stored with the European Central Bank and it is therefore always available to you.
The bitsafe.ua and bitsafe.net.ua websites are targeted to Ukrainians living in Europe, after the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation started in February 2022. Normally there is an annual fee applicable for the Bitsafe Debit Card, but this card is free of charge if applied for through the Ukrainian version of our website. The free Bitsafe debit card is only available to Ukrainian nationals (temporarily) residing outside of Ukraine.
Bitsafe's regular business is to provide payment accounts to people worldwide who have a talent. In fact, Bitsafe's core account users are influencers on social media. Of course it's possible to open up an account for everyone and we encourage all Ukrainian nationals that (temporarily) reside outside of Ukraine to open up an account with Bitsafe. You've got talent!
We onboard you remotely. This is done via the Bitsafe App. During the onboarding process we ask you to download the app from the Apple App store or Google Play. Once downloaded you need to have your ID document ready to be scanned. After this scan we ask you to take one or more self-portrait pictures of yourself. If applicable, the NFC chip inside your ID document will be read using our NFC technology.
Once this is all completed the information is checked by our compliance specialists. This goes relatively fast and within a few minutes (or sometime few hours) your account is active. The Netherlands IBAN is immediately issued to you.
Passport of the Citizen of Ukraine (Ukraine ID Card)
Ukrainian Biometric Passport
Ukrainian Driver's License
The old Ukrainian "internal passport" (handwritten booklet issued until 2016) is not accepted
A mobile phone that can run the Bitsafe App
An internet connection to your mobile phone (and a laptop, if you use one)
An email address
A form of ID
An address to receive your Bitsafe Debit Card
There is no fee applicable to open an account. There is also no fee applicable to apply for a debit card. However, an additional fee is applicable if you would like us to use a courier service to send you the Bitsafe Debit Card. Also SEPA transactions, wire transactions and other type of financial transactions have a fee, like with any other financial institution. You may find these fees here: price chart.
As a financial institution we want to help Ukrainians who had to leave their homes due to the war between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Bitsafe's vision is to lead the world's transition to financial and online inclusion for everyone. Helping Ukrainian nationals residing (temporarily) outside of Ukraine fits exactly in this vision.
By means of regular mail it will take 5-8 business days to get your debit card.
You can receive your debit card at any address within the European Union. Ukrainian nationals who reside (temporarily) outside of Ukraine need to complete a form with their (temporary) EU location. Any EU location will suffice, including any foster families, hotels and other residences where Ukrainian nationals (temporarily) reside.
Yes. You can pick up your debit card at multiple locations throughout Europe. We are currently working on a list which will show pick-up locations.
You will be further notified about this list once you have applied for an account and a debit card.
Bitsafe is all about payments. The following payment types are available with your account:
SEPA Send and receive money from the SEPA region - receivers and originators with an IBAN
Wire Send and receive money to the rest of the world using SWIFT Wire
ACH Send and receive money within the United States with ACH
Card Buy goods and services with your card, or use the ATM to withdraw funds
Bitsafe accounts cannot be overdrawn. As Bitsafe is a regulated electronic money institution, but not a bank, we cannot provide any credit to you.
We do not accept any deposits of physical cash. We are not a deposit taking institution. We do however accept incoming SEPA transfers, incoming wires and incoming ACH transfers.
We operate our payment business since 1997. We started in 1997 in San Francisco, moved in 2001 to the Netherlands and have now grown to an electronic money institution that secures payments, money and other digital assets of businesses and individuals worldwide independent of their trade, profession, race, ethnic or social origin, gender, religion or sexual identity.
The requirements to open an account with Bitsafe are different than with banks. Banks normally require a social security number from the country where you (temporarily) reside. As an electronic money institution we don't need a national social security number. We identify you through the Bitsafe App, and follow your payment patterns. Our enhanced KYC and transaction monitoring systems allow us to know you, and your transactions.
We are located in the Netherlands and speak many languages. Unfortunately our onboarding procedure and websites are all in English. Besides this webpage we have no other information available in Ukrainian.