Following this announcement, all 11 banks of the Albanian banking system individually prepared their respective applications within a short period of time, aiming to carry out the first SEPA cross-border transactions at the beginning of October 2025.
According to the official press release, this represents the earliest deadline set by the EPC, when payment service providers (PSPs) from the region of Albania will have the possibility to begin processing these cross-border payments denominated in EUR through SEPA.
Back in November 2024, the European Payments Council approved the inclusion of Albania in the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment schemes. The application for adherence of the financial institutions in the country to the SEPA payment schemes was set to start from April 2025.
Over the course of this period, the Bank of Albania, in close partnership with the Albanian Association of Banks, has intensively guided the banks and institutions throughout the application process, serving as the National Support Centre in the Adherence Process. In addition, the Bank of Albania also organised several workshops with experts from the World Bank in order to clarify the requirements and criteria for the application of each institution, as well as to provide guidance on how to fulfill them. At the same time, the Bank of Albania has also developed ongoing contacts with the EPC and the overall banking community in order to address any identified gaps and to encourage all banks to apply for adherence to the SEPA schemes.
The participation process in the SEPA payments schemes is set to bring significant benefits for Albanian clients and businesses in terms of transfer costs and the overall expansion of economic activity. The Bank of Albania will continue its strategy of supporting banks and financial institutions in the procedure of finalising the technical adjustments, as well as enabling them to ensure cheaper cross-border transactions for citizens at the earliest moment.
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