Zaçaj: Albania's payment systems embrace SEPA, regional future

Albania's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) in November 2025 marks a significant achievement, fostering modernization and integration into the broader European economy.

This move has already yielded substantial benefits for Albanian citizens and businesses.

Within the first six months of operations, 11 banks facilitated approximately 363,000 SEPA transfers totaling 4.3 billion euros, significantly exceeding initial projections.

A key impact has been the dramatic reduction in cross-border transfer costs, with average fees for small-to-medium transfers dropping from 0.76 percent to 0.08 percent, and large transfers to just 0.02 percent.

This 23-fold reduction is particularly impactful for remittances, a vital income source for many households, projected to reach 70 million euros in its first year.

SEPA also enhances transparency, reliability, and trade by simplifying procedures and eliminating intermediary banks, while supporting digitalization through caps on transfer fees for online-initiated payments, resulting in 68 percent of outgoing transfers being digital.

The Bank of Albania has significantly reformed its payments landscape, notably by transposing the EU Second Directive on Payment Services (PSD2) into law in 2020.

This opened the market to new services and institutions, increasing competition and transparency.

It led to the licensing of 10 e-money institutions, prompting traditional banks to enhance digital platforms.

New services like payment initiation and account information, coupled with stronger security, have paved the way for "open banking" and "open finance.

" Further harmonization with the EU Directive on interchange fees will facilitate cashless payments.

Infrastructural advancements include the real-time AIPS Euro for interbank euro-denominated payments since 2022 and a new direct debit scheme aligning with SEPA standards.