Low SEPA awareness leaves households using costly remittance channels
Fewer than 40 percent of consumers surveyed in south-eastern Europe had heard of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), according to a European Central Bank blog using 2025 survey data. The network connects 41 countries, but costly remittance channels remain common.
Cash transfers carry a premium
Across six countries, roughly one-third of remittance recipients receive cash through relatives or friends and another third use physical money transfer operators.
Selected routes in Q3 2025 charged 6–12 percent for cash-to-cash transfers and 1.5–4.5 percent for digital non-bank transfers.
Bulgaria receives almost €3 billion annually, or 2.1 percent of GDP; Albania receives over €2.5 billion, or 8.4 percent.
A 5 percent fee equates to about €140 million and €130 million respectively.
In the autumn 2025 OeNB Euro Survey, remittance receipt reached 21 percent in Albania, 17 percent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 10 percent in North Macedonia, 9 percent in Serbia, 8 percent in Bulgaria and 4 percent in Romania.
More than half of Albanian recipients use money transfer operators.
Membership does not ensure access
SEPA harmonises euro payments across borders.
Bulgaria and Romania have been in its geographical scope for over 15 years; Albania and North Macedonia joined in 2024 and Serbia in 2025.
Bosnia and Herzegovina applied in August 2026.
Entry does not immediately make services operational: users need participating providers and typically an account.
Awareness is around 17 percentage points higher among tertiary-educated consumers than those with primary education.
Crypto-asset awareness is higher, despite ownership peaking at only 6 percent.
Awareness is not adoption
The survey cannot establish whether better information would change payment choices.
Related deposit-insurance research finds that information improves awareness but has little effect on financial decisions.
SEPA access also depends on accounts and providers, while avoiding conversion costs requires euro accounts.
Source: SEPA: Europe’s unsung hero
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