Today in the FinTech Ukraine Daily: Google CEO Announces Additional Support for Ukraine; Update on Airbnb’s Effort to House Refugees

In a company blog post published Tuesday (March 29), Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said he has asked nonprofits how the tech company can best support the needs of more than 3.7 million refugees have fled Ukraine.

Pichai, who wrote the post from Warsaw, Poland, said that to help the humanitarian aid efforts on the ground in Europe, Google.org and Googlers have committed $35 million in funding and in-kind support.

This includes support for organizations focused on helping Ukraine, such as Nova Ukraine and Fight for Right, both of which are focused on helping those on the ground in Ukraine. Other nonprofits being supported include The Polish Center for International Aid, Hungarian Interchurch Aid and the Romanian Red Cross, which are supporting refugees in bordering countries, and Slovakia-based People in Need.

Meanwhile, in the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement that the United States will welcome 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine, Airbnb said it is working with the federal government to support free, temporary housing to refugees who may arrive in the country soon.

According to a company post Tuesday, more than 1,200 people have received temporary accommodations through Airbnb.org in Europe. Another 28,600 people have registered to offer their homes to refugees through Airbnb.org, including more than 17,800 across Europe and more than 5,800 in the U.S.

Airbnb said it has received more than $6.8 million in small donations from 73,000 individual donors across 95 countries.

Furthermore, on Monday (March 28), Netherlands-based FinTech Bitsafe announced that it will be providing free services to Ukrainians who are temporarily living in the European Union.

This service includes a basic payment account with a debit card issued in the name of the displaced Ukrainian. According to the release, it allows debit card ATM withdrawals and can be used to pay for goods and services. Each account can also send and receive funds worldwide.