In greeting remarks at the "Cashless Albania" workshop, Bank of Albania Governor Gent Sejko set out the central bank's assessment of Albania's move toward a cashless economy, highlighting the main reforms already delivered and the next priorities for the payments framework. The speech framed the transition as a structural change in the financial system, with the Bank of Albania pointing to its work on payment services regulation, core infrastructure and market access, and citing Albania's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area as the main milestone so far. The governor highlighted Albania's transposition of the European Union PSD2 framework, the adoption of a law on basic payment accounts to support financial inclusion, the launch of the AIPS Euro system, upgrades of national payment systems to European messaging standards, and caps on consumer fees for payment transactions. He said all banks operating in Albania and one non-bank payment institution now participate in SEPA, with euro-denominated transfers to SEPA members up to 20 times cheaper than a year earlier and potential first-year savings of up to EUR 70 million. He also cited stronger usage indicators, including digital payments rising to 29 per capita from five a decade ago, annual growth of around 25%, and 1.5 million payment cards in circulation, while noting that cash remains prevalent among small businesses, in the informal economy and in areas with limited banking infrastructure. For the period ahead, the Bank of Albania identified three main areas of work. It plans to implement a national instant payment platform based on the Eurosystem's TIPS model, draft legal and regulatory changes to allow direct access to national payment systems for payment institutions and electronic money institutions, and expand financial education efforts to support take-up of digital payments.
Bank of Albania2026-06-26
Bank of Albania outlines cashless payments agenda with instant payments platform and broader access to payment systems
In remarks at the "Cashless Albania" workshop, the Bank of Albania reviewed progress on payments modernisation and pointed to SEPA membership as the main achieved milestone. The governor said digital payments are expanding rapidly, but cash remains dominant in parts of the economy. Next priorities are a national instant payments platform, broader direct access to payment systems for non-bank providers and further financial education.