National Bank of Moldova reports 532,000 users and MDL 4.8 billion in first-year MIA instant payments

The National Bank of Moldova marked one year since the launch of its MIA instant payments system, reporting rapid uptake and positioning it as a key step in modernising the country’s payments infrastructure. Over the first 12 months, MIA was used by more than 532,000 unique users for more than 5 million transactions, with total payment value exceeding MDL 4.8 billion. MIA enables instant transfers between payment accounts across financial institutions using the recipient’s phone number without sharing bank details. Transfers are free up to MDL 10,000 per month, while fees above that threshold are capped at MDL 5 per transaction regardless of the financial institution. The first-year expansion of functionality included payment requests and responses, person-to-person transfers via QR code generation and scanning, Me2Me transfers between a user’s own accounts at different institutions, and QR-based payments for goods and services. The system is aligned with the model and technical standards used for SEPA Instant Credit Transfer. The central bank identified two priorities for further development: adding features to make consumer payments more convenient and expanding MIA acceptance across business sectors. In a video message, Governor Anca Dragu also pointed to Moldova’s recent acceptance into SEPA, stating that Moldovan banks will be able to offer secure, fast, very low-cost euro transactions to and from the European Union within a few months.