From community management to its own startup: how bill_line develops its international team and creates loyal professionals

Fintech is a highly dynamic field: products are scaled, regulations are updated, and teams are constantly evolving. ‘The revolving door of talent’ is one of the industry’s key challenges. According to the LinkedIn Workforce Report, the staff turnover rate in the US IT sector in 2023 was 13.2%. The situation is even more fluid in Ukraine: according to IT Research Ukraine, 48% of IT specialists changed jobs during 2023, and DOU analytics shows this figure has grown to 55% in 2024.

The reasons are not purely financial. Specialists increasingly seek companies that offer more than just a workplace: they want community, development, autonomy, and the opportunity to influence the decision-making process. The answer to this trend is a strategy of long-term investment in people: through the cultivation of values, training, internal culture and mentoring.

Tech-first companies are actively working to create a community where development and loyalty are not by-products but the result of structured effort. One such example is bill_line, a fintech company that has built an international team: they have student interns who win prizes at NASA hackathons – and their ambitious managers can grow into start-up founders.

Learning as a loyalty strategy

According to the LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report 2023, 94% of employees would remain loyal to a company that invests in their development. And according to PwC’s Future of Work report, 93% of respondents believe that skills development is crucial for future success.

This is also confirmed by another DOU study: 54% of Ukrainian Junior IT specialists in 2025 are actively studying and obtaining certificates.

"There’s a belief that traditional studies with long lectures and certificates are irrelevant in today’s fast-paced world. However, we all gain practical experience based on a pre-existing knowledge base. Employees don’t want to ‘take courses for the sake of courses’. They want applied training integrated into daily practice", – says bill_line’s HR Director Oksana Kireeva.

That’s why, in 2023, bill_line launched its own educational programme: the company reimburses up to 50% of work-related training costs for any relevant courses. This programme applies to all offices, both in Ukraine and the EU.

In addition, team leaders build personalised development tracks for their departments. This allows everyone to understand their educational route according to role, level and goals – and to grow professionally on a continuous basis.

How companies develop talents and foster loyalty

Supporting young specialists Many IT companies collaborate with universities to recruit students for internships, often leading to full-time offers. This not only helps develop in-house teams effectively but also shortens hiring processes and facilitates smoother onboarding.

Sometimes, this results in the discovery of real talent. At the end of 2024, bill_line Java Trainee and KAI (formerly NAU) student Denys Tkachenko participated in the global NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024 – as part of a student team.

The Kyiv team developed the NVS-knot solution: it calculates optimal conditions for agriculture using satellite and hydrological data. In the future, this may help farmers respond to natural disasters and optimise their operations. Denys was the lead developer of the team and handled web development for the algorithm. The project made it to the global top-10 list and received a special NASA award.

Denys continues his internship at bill_line and is honing his skills within a team of experienced developers.

"Working with people who are driven and eager to create something new is what made IT great. Innovation and ideas that are born and implemented in dynamic environments have always been part of strong teams. And when I see that same drive and talent blossoming in those just starting their careers, I can’t help but laugh at yet another article claiming ‘IT is dead’. We’re incredibly proud of Denys and his achievement, and we’re confident this is just the beginning", – says bill_line Project Manager Vladyslav Chukhrai.

Mentoring as part of the process Supporting colleagues is not just a formality. Every new employee is assigned a mentor to help them integrate, understand the company culture, set personal goals, and build their career path. According to the HR department, this significantly shortens the adaptation period.

"This approach matters not only at work. Proper mentoring and communication were key during the opening of our EU office in 2022. Relocated colleagues gradually arrived in a new city – and the already-adapted team helped newcomers settle into work, sort out bureaucratic matters, and more. That’s when we realised: our company wouldn’t just overcome this challenge – we’d grow stronger through it", – says bill_line’s HRD.

Internal educational initiatives Rapid growth during a company’s active development phase can create imbalance. Over the past two years, the bill_line team has more than doubled in size. It now includes people from different countries, speaking different languages, and sometimes with experience well beyond the fintech sector.

To unite the team and foster development, bill_line switched to English as the main language of communication and launched several internal educational initiatives:

• Operational workshops: C-level managers regularly share practical knowledge, from how to give constructive feedback to effective task management;
• Insightful lectures: colleagues with unique expertise – or invited external speakers – help others build their individual skillsets. For example, the company recently hosted a lecture on investing and personal financial management;
• Values workshops: bill_line has defined five core values, each overseen by a ‘Keeper’ from the management team. In regular calls that include new joiners, each value is discussed using real work examples.

A community that creates opportunities

An in-house start-up incubator bill_line understands: the best people stay where they have influence. That’s why the company fosters a flat structure where ideas matter – regardless of job title.

In 2024, they launched the "Imagine it. Pitch it. Own it." programme. Anyone in the company can develop a business plan, pitch it to the CEO, and receive funding (with no fixed budget limits) – effectively becoming the CEO of their own project, with equity.

Since the launch, several initiatives are already at various stages of development and have the potential to significantly enhance the company’s capabilities.

In a world where products change monthly and experts change annually, only deep trust, learning, and a strong community can retain top talent. bill_line proves that investing in people is not a cost – it’s a strategic advantage. That’s how you build teams that don’t just create payment solutions, but shape their own future.