The Bank of Albania's Vice Governor Minxhozi emphasized operationalising Albania's SEPA membership by April 2025, requiring institutions to complete necessary steps. Coordination with the World Bank, European Payment Council, and European Central Bank is crucial, focusing on payment modernisation projects like open banking and instant payments. The European Central Bank's approval of the clone TIPS project is a step towards full SEPA membership.
The Bank of Albania published opening remarks by Vice Governor Minxhozi for a workshop on the technical and legal aspects of connecting to SEPA schemes, stressing that Albania’s SEPA membership now needs to be operationalised through individual institutions completing the required steps from April 2025 so that citizens and businesses can realise the benefits.
The Vice Governor emphasised that progress depends on each institution’s preparedness but requires strong coordination across the market, with the Bank of Albania and partner institutions including the World Bank, the European Payment Council and the European Central Bank positioned to support implementation. The remarks also linked SEPA scheme participation to broader payment modernisation, calling for full engagement in related projects such as open banking and instant payments, and noting that work on these initiatives is based on European Union standards and practices.
The speech referenced the European Central Bank’s approval of the clone TIPS project as a further step that should enable more complete SEPA membership in the near future.
Governor Gent Sejko of the Bank of Albania discussed innovation's impact on financial services, noting digital payments' growth and initiatives like joining SEPA and implementing open banking under PSD2. Digital payments per capita rose from 2 in 2015 to 23 in 2024, with financial inclusion at 78%. The Bank is preparing for SEPA transactions by…
The Bank of Albania, led by Governor Gent Sejko, held a roundtable with the banking sector to discuss priorities such as increased lending to viable projects, digital transformation, and SEPA membership. Emphasis was placed on enhancing digital banking solutions, addressing cybersecurity, and supporting SEPA transactions by 2025. A joint working…
The Bank of Albania and the Albanian Association of Banks have applied to the European Payments Council for Albanian banks to join the SEPA Credit Transfer scheme, targeting cross-border euro transactions by October 2025. The European Payments Council approved Albania's inclusion in SEPA schemes in November 2024, with applications starting in…