Shqipëria Posted on 2025-01-31 12:44:00

New postal deposits at the Development Bank - How does the Italian model work and how will it be implemented in Albania?

From Ledina Elezi

New postal deposits at the Development Bank - How does the Italian model work

The Albanian Development Bank will be established with the help of one of the largest development banks in Europe, which is Italy's Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

The draft law published for public consultation states that the Bank will not only provide support to enterprises, but also opportunities for citizens to invest their money in deposits and government securities.

For this, the Italian model will be followed, which brings the State Post into play. But, how does this process work specifically in Italy and how will it be implemented in our country?

In the Italian state, regarding investing in treasury bills, bonds, or other instruments of this nature, an individual appears at one of the Italian Post branches or enters its website, selects the instrument they want and then the amount they want to invest.

Once the value has been determined, the Italian Post Office issues the government bonds in paper form or the citizen downloads them online (if he has chosen the online form of investment). After that, at maturity or earlier, he can withdraw the invested money along with the interest.

As for transferring money to a deposit, in the case of Italy, passbooks are used. Again, the person goes to one of the branches of the Italian Post Office, chooses between an online passbook or a physical passbook and deposits the money. Later, he can withdraw the funds whenever he wants, at post offices or at ATMs.

Whether for government securities or deposits, interest rates are several times lower than those in commercial banks. However, compared to second-tier banks, deposits in the Development Bank are 100% guaranteed by the state, so the risk of losing money is zero.

But why was the post office chosen?

For Italy, the post office has been an important financial institution for years. The state-owned post office has branches in every corner of the country, making it more accessible to every citizen, unlike banks that are only present in urban areas. If the post office were not used, opening new branches of the Development Bank would be associated with higher costs. 

In Albania, too, the Albanian Post Office will be responsible for accepting funds from the public for investment purposes. Unlike Italy, where trust in the Post Office is very high, Albanians on the other hand do not consider it as reliable and safe, this is because although the Albanian Post Office was established at the same time as the creation of the Albanian state, it would offer financial services much later. Also, the trust of the Albanian people in the state is many times lower than in Italy.

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