The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed a Letter of Intent to launch a project to create an instant payment system for the Western Balkans, alongside the central banks of Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro and in cooperation with the Bank of Italy. Under the agreement, the Bank of Italy will supply an instant payment system based on a clone of TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS), the Eurosystem’s real-time settlement platform, with the initiative approved by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. The new platform is expected to become operational within 18 months of work starting, which is scheduled for the next few weeks, and will support payments in all currencies of the participating countries. The project also предусматривает a bilateral link for settling payments between the TIPS area and the Western Balkan area, using a technologically advanced, low-cost solution, with additional functionalities to be developed after the initial implementation phase. North Macedonia attended the signing but reserved the right to join later.
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2025-01-10
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina signs letter of intent for a Western Balkans instant payment system based on a TIPS clone
The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the central banks of Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro, has signed a Letter of Intent to develop an instant payment system for the Western Balkans, in collaboration with the Bank of Italy. The system will be based on a clone of the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) platform, with the European Central Bank's Governing Council's approval. North Macedonia attended the signing but has not committed to joining.