
SEPA membership is expected to save Albania up to 20 million euros in the first year, to be progressively increased thereafter. In the framework of Albania's application for membership in the Single Euro Payments Market, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, recently held a meeting with the General Director of the European Payments Council and the General Director of the Neighborhood and Negotiations Directorate. of Expansion.
During the meetings held in Brussels, it was emphasized that all countries in the region have made maximum efforts for SEPA membership and 3 of them, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, have successfully completed the application phase. Albania is one of the 3 countries of the Western Balkans, which have convincingly progressed towards SEPA membership, and it is expected that at the beginning of next year we will officially be part of the Single Euro Payments Market.
It is worth mentioning that Albania is the first country in the region that has aligned its legislation and drafted the relevant regulation, as the cornerstone of SEPA requirements. In the field of payments, Albania shows a high legal compliance with the acquis and with the regulatory framework of the Single Euro Payments Market.
Participation in SEPA enables the realization of cross-border payments in euros, with the same costs as those within the country, and after membership, the cost of cross-border payments in euros with member countries will be at least 5 times lower.