“Bankers from all over the globe became anxious. American bankers are more anxious, while bankers from such countries as Ukraine are less anxious. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that Apple will launch their banking product in Ukraine in less than five years from now,” notes the co-founder of Fintech Band and one of the monobank project managers Dmitriy Dubilet.

He and his colleague from Fintech Band and monobank projects Oleg Gorokhovskiy provided three reasons as to why Apple Card won’t come to Ukraine, or at least in the foreseeable future.

Ukraine without Apple Card

1. Customer identification on Ukrainian banking market and, accordingly, the absence of the possibility to open an account without visiting a bank. “Unlike in the West, in Ukraine, it is mandatory for banks to meet a client in person to open an account. Clearly, all these problems can be solved, but in the nearest future Apple and Google are going to pursue other priorities,” notes Dubilet.
2. Another reason is a solid monopoly of a single player on the banking market, which can seriously limit the payment infrastructure. For instance, 70% of the infrastructure of POS terminals belongs to “PrivatBank”. Will Apple Card be able to utilize it? “I did not understand this point from the presentation. I think that there’s going to be a model where a client would get a card in Europe and replenish it from a Ukrainian card. Same way they replenish Apple Store account,” comments Gorokhovskiy.
3. Gorokhovskiy further notes that Apple still views Ukraine as a market with low purchasing power. Corruption and nontransparent regulatory framework do not do it any good either.

Undoubtedly, sooner or later global consolidation of banking sector, just like taxi, is bound to occur. However, launching a banking product on a new market is a monumental challenge. Each country has its own licensing process in place, own KYC/AML processes, own payment systems and credit reference bureau.”

It’s a win-win for everybody. Except for banks

Nonetheless, according to Dubilet, Ukrainians will also benefit from yesterday’s announcement. “Apple showed that Visa/Mastercard can bend their rules here and there to allow the issue of cards without any number, CVV or expiration date. We are already preparing papers addressed to these payment systems requesting their approval for monobank to provide their clients with the same option,” he announced.

All in all, Gorokhovskiy believes that yesterday’s announcement sends an important message to the entire banking sector. “In their model of the world (Apple – ed.), there’s no place for banks and other intermediaries in retail transactions. Banks would be left with KYC (identification and figuring out sources of funds), loans and capital management,” he notes.

In addition, loans could also be under question: considering the amount of cash on the company’s accounts, Apple could easily engage in issue of retail and medium loans for entrepreneurs.

“There are no local playgrounds, everything is global and no one should take it easy. But they are sending this signal all the time. Apple Pay is also a signal.”

#1. What happened?

In Ukraine there are regular debates regarding the harm to health, caused by radiation from mobile phones and base stations. In May of 2017 the Ministry of Health has approved an increase of the standards of acceptable radiation limit, required for development of 4G in our country. However, in November this decision was suspended due to discontent of activists. Since 25 of January it became known that residents of Osokorki micro-district in Kyiv got approval for dismantling of a base station because of possible harm to their health. Many people also believe that radiation from mobile phones is harmful to their health.

Senstone is a stylish pendant (wearable) for voice conversion into text. This device has instantly succeeded on Kickstarter: project raised the required amount of $50 000 for 36 hours. In total, the pendant raised over $389,000 owing to additional Indemand-campaign on Indiegogo. Western media actively highlighted Senstone: Business Insider called the device “one of the most important”. Pendant converts voice messages into text and sorts it by topics: for example, personal diary or notes from conferences. The device is capable of recognizing seven languages and holds a charge for up to three days.

Jollylook, $377,000

Jollylook is a camera for analog snapshots. A team from Zaporozhye created this camera fully eco-friendly – its components contain just recycled cardboard, lenses and cartridge. The device develops photos within a few minutes after the moment when the owner made a photo.

Ugears, $288,000

In 2017 Ugears went to Kickstarter for the second time for their entire history. This time, startup was raising money for a new line of mechanical models – hurdy-gurdy (according to members of the project, it was the first mechanical musical model in the world, which you can assemble yourself), calendar and models for children. As a result, Ugears has raised $288,000 — almost 20 times more than initially claimed amount.

Pixio, $167,000

Pixio is a constructor set, inspired by pixel art style, i.e. styled on the old games on 8-bit consoles. Every cubic is one pixel, which can be attached to either side of another block using magnets. Polarity of cubes is connected in such a way that it allows assembling them in any combinations. Constructor set is also attached with manuals to basic figures, for instance, Mario Plumber from a popular game. The manufacturers describe Pixio as “Minecraft in real life”.

Delfast, $165,000

Delfast began their activities still in 2014 as a courier delivery service, specialized in small cargos. This year they have launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds for production of their own drag bikes. A key feature of Delfast bikes is a drive range of 380 km. Deniel Tonkopiy, the Founder of Delfast, described their product while launching it, “Till today, the drive range of 99% of bikes has not exceeded 50 km. Therefore, our product moves drag bikes from the category “toys” to the category “real life vehicle”.” Delfast achieved considerable success: drag bike raised $165,000, and also was highlighted by Western media, including TechInsider, Mashable and Yahoo.

Rinsten Spring, $136,000

Rinsten Spring is a bike shock absorber. It allows softening road vibrations and shocks, making your bike driving smooth and keeping your body healthy. Rinsten Spring consists of five parts and, according to its manufacturers, it is assembled for less than a minute.

QLYX, $124,000

QLYX is a magnetic holder for smartphones. When a smartphone is attached to the holder, special application is opened on the phone. This application automatically collects driving statistics, offers you to get directions to and shows weather forecast. It is available for iOS and Android.

SolarGaps, $102,000

Yevgeny Eric, the entrepreneur, invented smart blinds SolarGaps in June of 2016. This year he put them on Kickstarter. SolarGaps generates power, being fastened on the windows. The blinds are automatically adjusted to the angle of sun rays. These blinds can also be controlled by smartphone. In the company they promise that owing to SolarGaps you can save up to 70% of costs on electricity.

Hushme , $98,000

Hushme device allows making human talks noiseless for people around. Initially they put the gadget on Kickstarter and raised $70,000, and further they launched additional campaign on Indiegogo and raised $28,000 more. Despite its bizarre form, Hushme causes no sense of discomfort. The gadget makes speech unclear for people within a distance of one meter, and makes it fully noiseless at greater distances.

Luciding, $87,000

This year Luciding startup also entered crowdfunding platform. This startup works on creating the gadget for lucid dreams. It is named LucidCatcher. The device is a band around your head that you should put on before sleeping. Manufacturers of LucidCatcher promise that owners of the gadget will be able to realize that they are sleeping and will have an opportunity to control their dream. While launching crowdfunding campaign the team assured that the first supplies would begin as early as in 2018.

Time 4 Machine, $52,000

Having left Ugears, the entrepreneur Denis Okhrimenko managed new projects. This year he put one of such projects – Time 4 Machine – on Kickstarter. Time 4 Machine is metal 3D puzzles. As a part of the campaign, the project raised funds for constructor set of the clockwork vehicle. As a result, Time 4 Machine has raised three times more than initially claimed amount.

HURU, $51,000

Still in the first hours of the campaign HURU has raised a half of the required amount ($15,000). Totally they have raised $50,000. Their product is a backpack for the city and travelling, made out of waterproof nylon fiber. The volume of HURU makes 24 liters, but it can be extended to 40 liters. The backpack has a department for documents and heat insulation compartment for food products. Among other features, there is a detachable waist pack in the kit and organizer for personal care items, cables and charging devices.

Omnia, $47,000

In April a team from Odessa named AGE launched a campaign to raise money for the second version of the convertible Omnia Dress – 2Go. According to the creators, the dress can be worn in 20 different versions. A new model was designed for warm season of the year. Evelina Smulskaya, CEO of the project, told us at the launch of the campaign, “After the moment when all dresses [of the first version] had been delivered, we decided to make a poll among our backers in order to find out what kind of alterations and improvements they wished to see in the second version. It turned out that most of all the customers demanded a version of the dress, made of more lightweight fabric for hot weather.”

City Jacket, $47,000

A campaign for the convertible City Jacket was launched simultaneously with HURU and it was successful. Almost all claimed amount has been raised ($20,000) for the period less than 24 hours. In total, the project has raised more than $45,000. Among the distinctive features of City Jacket – there is a large number of pockets and an option to change a length of sleeves.

Urban Kukri knife family, $30,000

Urban Kukri knife family is a line of folding metal knives. Totally, three sizes are available – 30 mm, 50 mm and 100 mm.

RIDER1991, $27,000

Designer watch RIDER1991 entered Kickstarter in June of this year and for a month they have raised over $27,000. According to the creators of the project, it is the first designer watch, developped in Ukraine.

Placeon, $19,000

One more project of AGE team from Odessa is Placeon – a smartphone belt clip, which addresses the problem of fast access to your smartphone. According to the designers, using this device it is possible to pick up your phone three times faster than when you get it out of your pocket. Placeon can also be used as a clip for holding on the walls and any other surfaces.

Golden Age, $18,000

Golden Age is a deck of playing cards with a unique design. While creating the cards, their author Svyatoslav Pashchuk was inspired by creativity of Neil Gaiman, a science-fiction writer.

HeartIn, $18,000

HeartIn is a T-shirt, which takes electrocardiogram in real time mode. Jointly with mobile application it monitors abnormalities in functioning of the heart and facilitates more efficient sports activities. According to the T-shirt manufacturers, the intended purpose of HeartIn is to ensure early diagnosis of heart diseases.

RollSpin, $17,000

RollSpin is spin toys, made of aluminum, brass, bronze and steel and designed for concentration and relax. It is capable of continuous spinning for more than six minutes. By dimensions it does not exceed a bunch of keys. The team, created RollSpin, anticipated raising $1000, but finally they raised 17 times more.