The Central Bank of Montenegro convened the second meeting of the National Payments Council, reviewing early outcomes from Montenegro’s first two months of full SEPA implementation and taking stock of progress on the TIPS Clone project for national instant payments. Central bank data covering 7 October to 7 December 2025 showed SEPA quickly became the prevailing channel for retail international payments, accounting for 78% of transactions up to EUR 200 and 65.9% of transactions up to EUR 20,000. Average electronic-channel fees for individuals were EUR 2.24 for SEPA versus EUR 66.8 for SWIFT, with SWIFT described as almost 30 times more expensive; for legal entities, SEPA fees averaged EUR 6.4 versus EUR 46.9 for SWIFT, around seven times higher. On TIPS Clone, the Council was briefed that North Macedonia has officially joined the initiative, bringing to five the number of Western Balkan countries working on national instant payment systems; in Montenegro, bank project teams have been set up, documentation exchange and regular reporting established, and expert teams are conducting system-adaptation work for integration with the platform. Members also discussed topics raised by commercial banks, including the future regulation of instant payments (transaction limits, fees and the relationship with the existing DNS system), potential improvements to enforced collection on individuals’ bank accounts, initiatives to digitise and standardise salary-payment data exchange, and issues related to applying the ISO 20022 standard in budgetary payments.
Central Bank of Montenegro 2025-12-25
Central Bank of Montenegro reports sharp SEPA fee savings and advances TIPS Clone instant payments preparations
The Central Bank of Montenegro's National Payments Council reviewed SEPA's success in retail international payments and discussed the TIPS Clone project, with North Macedonia joining. SEPA has reduced transaction costs compared to SWIFT for individuals and legal entities. The Council also addressed future regulation of instant payments, digitisation of salary-payment data, and ISO 20022 standard application in budgetary payments.