Today in FinTech Ukraine: Mastercard Gives $2M for Relief Efforts

Today in FinTech Ukraine, Mastercard is donating $2 million to support relief efforts in Ukraine, and Unchain Fund, which was created by blockchain activists, is aiming for the smooth transfer of humanitarian funds.

Mastercard

Mastercard has donated $2 million to support the relief initiatives in Ukraine and the nearby countries welcoming refugees.

Of that amount, $1.25 million was provided to the International Red Cross; $500,000 to Save the Children, who are on the ground helping provide families with immediate aid, such as food, water, hygiene kits and mental health support; and $250,000 to the Employee Assistance Fund, which directly benefits impacted Mastercard employees.

In addition, Mastercard deployed another $3 million from its Impact Fund to further support food, shelter and medical care in Ukraine.

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions

The Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions will donate $50,000 it has collected from its Ukrainian Credit Union Displacement Fund to a Ukrainian nonprofit providing humanitarian aid to refugees, the Credit Union Times reported.

The charitable division of the World Council of Credit Unions, a global trade association for credit unions, said the cash will go to Vinnytsia, a city in western Ukraine where the Podolsk Regional Development Agency has organized the purchase and delivery of supplies to Ukrainians who’ve fled attacks by Russian military.

Unchain Fund

Blockchain activists created the Unchain Fund to help Ukrainians. Its mission is to transfer funds and provide direct assistance to those who need it most.

Donations fund humanitarian aid to individuals, volunteers, nonprofits and medical institutions. Unchain said it has built a system to detect fraudsters and establish direct deliveries of humanitarian aid from abroad, including medicines, equipment for ambulances and protective equipment.

“Even after the end of the war, we will still need well-established processes for many months to support the victims and provide resources for relief,” the Unchain Fund wrote.

Vancity

Vancity, a member-owned financial co-operative based in Canada, announced it is temporarily waiving wire transfer fees to send money to Ukraine. There are more than 1 million Ukrainian Canadians, and many more with strong connections to the Eastern European country who are worried and wish to help, the co-op said.

In addition to waiving wire transfer fees, Vancity said it has donated $50,000 to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and to Ukrainian organizations in Canada.

“Vancity stands with the people of Ukraine,” said Vancity Group President and CEO Christine Bergeron in a statement. “The unprovoked military invasion by Russia on Ukraine is an attack on the values of a free and democratic world, values that are at the core of co-operatives.