Albanian microfinance in SEPA too? - Isaj: Work continues on the application process. Ceilings for the fees that will be applied
Following the admission of banks to the Single Euro Payments Market (SEPA), work has begun a few months ago on the second phase, that of the application and inclusion of non-bank financial institutions.
In an interview with Scan Television, the Secretary General of the Albanian Microfinance Association, Brunilda Isaj, stated that non-bank financial institutions are within the agreed deadlines for the implementation of the application, while the challenge remains the intermediaries and the amount of investment.
"Work is still ongoing in cooperation with the regulator and the relevant payments department at the Bank of Albania. It has been agreed that this will be the second phase of the project, which for non-bank financial institutions also due to the typology and dimension of their business presents some small challenges. First, on the technical level, because it will be necessary for non-bank financial institutions to cooperate with an intermediary to join the payment clearing framework platform, which are issues that need to be resolved one by one and the Bank of Albania is mediating and supporting in this process. The second challenge is that of the amount of investment, i.e. the size of the investment that is associated with this process, because for our institutions, the costs of establishing mediation and membership in these payment platforms, which are global, are considerable and with the aim of not transferring them to the end client, we will have to find some cooperation opportunities with cheaper costs or some providers that also offer prices for several institutions at once, " said Isaj.
Regarding the implementation of SEPA transfers, Isaj also emphasized that ceilings will be set for the fees that will be applied.
"The regulator has stated that they will also work with ceilings. They will set maximum limits on the provision of tariffs, which means that competitiveness can be maintained and consumers can be protected from costs that may not be directly related to the activity."
By making transfers through SEPA, the cost of cross-border payments in Euro with member countries of the scheme is estimated to be at least 5 times lower.
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