The Bank of Albania held a roundtable with the banking system, led by Governor Gent Sejko, to discuss priorities for strengthening the sector’s role in the domestic economy, including more lending to viable business and household projects and a broader range of financial products and services. The discussion also covered innovation topics such as Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) membership and open banking. The Governor emphasised continued investment in digital transformation, highlighting digital banking solutions to improve customer experience while addressing cybersecurity risks and supporting confidence in online services. With Albania’s SEPA accession process being finalised, banks were urged to meet the relevant deadlines to join SEPA schemes and enable SEPA transactions for customers within 2025, supported by investment in technology, infrastructure and staff training. Lending conditions were also discussed, with a call for greater focus on underfunded sectors, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, alongside maintaining loan portfolio quality through prudent financing practices. Participants agreed to create a joint working platform for the upcoming period.

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