The Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo published remarks by Governor Ahmet Ismaili setting out the central bank’s work to support the digital transformation of financial services, with an emphasis on secure and inclusive access backed by stronger data protection, cybersecurity and fraud prevention. Digital transformation is positioned as an objective of the Central Bank’s Strategic Plan, with existing regulation referenced as supporting the licensing and supervision of payment service providers and FinTech companies and facilitating market access for new payment providers. The Governor also pointed to prepared laws and key regulations intended to promote digital financial services, including measures linked to the integration pathway and Kosovo’s application to join the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). With support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Central Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are working on infrastructure improvements, open banking initiatives, an Innovation Hub, and capacity building in digital financial services. Operationally, the Central Bank, together with the Information Society Agency (ASHI), has integrated the Bank Accounts Register (RLLB) and the Kosovo Credit Register (RKK) into the national eKosova platform to let citizens verify their accounts with financial institutions and access individual credit reports without submitting physical requests to the Central Bank. Work is also underway with state institutions to enable electronic validation of citizens’ data and addresses for accounts held at financial institutions, with the aim of reducing in-person update processes.

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