"Every business must have a POS for card payments" - Ibrahimaj: By 2026, merchants should be equipped with at least one electronic device
Every business will be required to have at least one POS terminal to offer its customers the opportunity to make card payments.
At the Connect Digital Payments Forum, organized as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Minister of Economy and Innovation, Delina Ibrahimaj, stated that a concrete plan of measures for cash reduction has been prepared, which will be discussed next week with the banking sector, fintech actors, public institutions and all those who are part of the payment chain.
"One of the concrete measures that we have foreseen that is part of the fiscal package that will be presented today in parliament is precisely the obligation for merchants to have at least one POS and within 2026 in a phased manner, we will have all merchants who will be obliged to have at least one electronic payment instrument. We believe that this is a first step towards the joint work that we have to do in order to achieve our common objectives, to achieve that Albania reduces the level of cash, which will affect the reduction of informality and will also affect the improvement of innovation performance in the country," said Ibrahimaj.
According to Ibrahimaj, Albania has digitized most of its public services, but payments need to be digitized more, in order to reduce the use of physical money.
"Today, we have de facto 98% of services offered online. In terms of public services, Albania is a pioneer among all EU countries, in 8th place for the provision of public and digital services. In the world, it is in the twenty-first. So, we have done a lot in terms of digitalization, but if digitalization is not linked to the digitalization of payments to reduce cash, our economy will never be able to get the most out of this digitalization," the Minister said.
She emphasized that the digitalization of payments is key to getting the best out of all the digital developments that are taking place.
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