BSH: The euro transfer system saved individuals and businesses 37 million euros

2024-04-12 12:25:00, Ekonomi CNA

BSH: The euro transfer system saved individuals and businesses 37 million euros

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The Bank of Albania estimates that the operation of the AIPS Euro payment system has saved Albanian businesses and consumers around 37 million euros last year.

The value saved from the use of the national AIPS Euro system gives an idea of ??the great benefits that the Albanian economy will have from SEPA membership, which will enable international payments to be made at lower costs and in a faster time.

Albania is a country with very high economic interaction with the countries of the European Union, in areas such as commercial exchanges, income from work and remittances, tourism, etc. SEPA makes cross-border payments between member countries as simple and cheap as domestic payments. By participating in SEPA, it will be possible to apply the principle of equal fees for both national and cross-border payments processed electronically.

Currently, transfers and payments with European Union countries and vice versa are carried out through correspondent banks, which represent a costly and inefficient channel in terms of transaction execution time, monitoring of its finalization, transparency of working conditions and consumer protection .

It is expected that the decision on Albania's membership in SEPA will be taken within the first half of this year, while the implementation of membership may require up to two years.

The national AIPS Euro system became operational in 2022, with the aim of enabling Albanian citizens to make payments in euros within the country at lower costs and in a faster time than the process previously carried out through correspondent banks.

In 2023, 249 thousand transactions were processed in the AIPS Euro system, an increase of 60% compared to the previous year. While the value of transactions reached 4.13 billion euros, with an annual increase of 24%. On average, last year about 1,016 transactions per day were processed in this system, with an average daily turnover value of about 17 million euros.

The AIPS Euro system set up by the Bank of Albania, defines several ceiling commissions for national transfers in euros, which has significantly reduced costs for customers of the banking sector.

For initial payments ordered by clients of participants and transferred through the AIPS Euro system, with a value less than or equal to 10 thousand euros, the total commissions applied by the bank must not be higher than 0.2% of the value transferred and the floor commission cannot be higher than 6 euros.

For payments that are initiated electronically, the total commissions applied by the originating participant for each payment order must not be higher than 50% of the total commissions applied for each payment initiated non-electronically. This means the implementation of total commissions floor higher than 3 euros, total commissions not higher than 0.1% of the transferred value for value less than or equal to 10 thousand euros.

In total, for the originating payments ordered by clients of the participants and transferred through the AIPS Euro system, the total maximum commissions applied by the originating participant for each payment order must not be higher than 50 euros, regardless of the amount. For the transfers made through this system, commissions are not applied for the funds on arrival.

The AIPS Euro system works only for making transfers in euros within the country, while for international transfers Albanian banks are still obliged to act through corresponding foreign banks. /Monitor