The family plans to travel abroad: what to do with savings

So, what to do with the saves, crossing the Ukrainian border during the war?

According to https://www.radiosvoboda.org/ :

“During the war, a significant part of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in neighboring countries. Citizens who left the country, having with them a cash hryvnia, faced the inability to exchange it for currency or are forced to make such an exchange almost for next to nothing. The National Bank understands this problem and is working to solve it with the central banks of neighboring countries. But it will take time. So, if you have not yet crossed the border, we recommend that you replenish your bank account in Ukraine and safely use your payment card abroad. Then the conversion rate will be much better than the “black market” rate,” said Alexei Shaban, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank.

According to the NBU, Ukrainians abroad can non-cash pay for goods and services using payment cards issued by Ukrainian banks, as well as withdraw the necessary amounts in cash in the foreign currency of the host country. Conversion for such transactions will take place at the rate set by the Ukrainian issuing bank (and not the cash exchange rate).

The National Bank of Ukraine recommends that Ukrainians planning to evacuate abroad deposit hryvnia in cash to their card accounts in Ukraine. It is worth noting that Ukrainian VISA and MasterCard cards (both hryvnia and foreign currency) work abroad without problems. But in order to avoid blocking the card, you need to call the hotline of your bank and warn that you plan to use it abroad. It is important to ask about the limits for withdrawing cash abroad on your bank card.

If you are traveling with cash, you need to remember that no more than 10 thousand euros in equivalent can be transported across the border without declaring. It is advisable to keep the rest of the money on cards in any currency.

How to transfer money if...

Abroad - a wife with children, a man - in Ukraine

• transfer to a hryvnia bank card: a man can replenish his wife's hryvnia card. The conversion fee when the wife uses this money if necessary is quite acceptable;
• transfer to a bank card in euro / dollar: the husband cannot replenish his wife's card in cash due to the NBU restriction . If the wife has currency on the card, she can withdraw abroad only the amount equivalent to 30 thousand UAH / day ( NBU restriction );
• transfer to the husband’s foreign currency card (which the wife now has): the husband cannot replenish his foreign currency card through the cash desk / terminal in cash ( NBU restriction ), but can withdraw money from a foreign brokerage account, receive a coupon or redeem the body on foreign government bonds to his foreign currency card and the wife will be able to use this money abroad. A man cannot buy currency online on his card ( NBU restriction ).

Abroad - the whole family

It is possible to use money on cards (hryvnia, currency). You can withdraw money from a foreign brokerage account (Interactive Brokers, Freedom Finance) to a currency card and use the money on the card. If you have an open bank account abroad, you can try to withdraw money to this account from a foreign brokerage account (it is desirable that before that there was at least one transaction to replenish a brokerage account from a foreign bank account). Currency conversion abroad when paying by card occurs at the interbank rate.

Whole family in Ukraine

The Ukrainian banking system works quite stably, so experts recommend using non-cash money in the first place. Relatives or friends living abroad can transfer money to Ukrainian currency cards, which can be used to pay in Ukrainian stores. It is also possible to convert the currency into hryvnia using online banking.

Source https://biz.nv.ua/rus