E-banking transactions increased by 19% in the first quarter of the year

2024-05-14 09:00:21, Ekonomi CNA

Remote banking (home banking), via the Internet or mobile phone, grew again at high rates in the first quarter of this year.

According to the Bank of Albania, in the first quarter of this year, the number of remote transactions reached slightly more than 2 million, an increase of 19% compared to the same period a year ago.

The increase is slightly higher in the value of the actions performed, which reached 528.4 billion ALL, almost 21% more compared to the same period last year.

Currently, commercial banks in Albania all offer remote banking services, which means that every client of the banking sector has an alternative channel available for making payments.

Now, transactions through digital channels are steadily dominating the structure of credit transfers made through the banking system.

For the first quarter of 2024, transfers from digital channels accounted for 58% of the total number of bank transfers, further increasing from the weight of 57% they had last year.

For any individual or entity that owns a bank account, the vast majority of payments and transfers can now be made via the Internet, without the need to physically go to the bank. The only exception, at the moment, is international transfers that must generally be ordered in paper form, with the physical presence of the client.

The concept of home banking includes those banking actions that are ordered without the need for the customer to physically go to the bank. The main channels through which these actions are carried out are internet banking or mobile banking.

In recent years, these services are merging with each other, because most banks offer the Internet banking service in parallel also through applications on mobile phones, in order to adapt to the obvious trend towards mobility in the use of the Internet.

The number of bank accounts connected to the Internet at the end of 2023 reached almost 1.1 million thousand, an annual increase of 25%. It is estimated that now 34% of active bank accounts are accessible from the Internet, from 28.2% that was this indicator at the end of 2022.

More than 90% of the number of resident bank accounts connected to the Internet belong to individuals. However, the largest increase in online accounts last year was in the business segment, up 25% year-on-year.

The use of payments through electronic channels has also been encouraged by the Bank of Albania, through regulatory measures. Since June 2020, all interbank transfers up to the value of 20,000 lek that are carried out through electronic channels must be offered by banks without any commission.

Meanwhile, for larger amounts, electronic transfers have commissions at least 50% cheaper compared to those carried out at bank counters.

The same policy was followed in the regulation for national transfers in euros, where commissions for electronic transfers must be a maximum of 50% of commissions for payments made in bank branches./ Monitor.al