Albania to apply to join EU single payment area in June

The integration of payment service providers (PSPs) into SEPA schemes to reduce transaction costs is expected to take 18 months from the moment Albania joins the area, Minxhozi told a fintech conference in Tirana.

The central bank has been working closely with PSPs to accelerate this process, Minxhozi added.

Central bank governor Gent Sejko said earlier in March that SEPA regulatory transposition into the Albanian regulatory frame is at an advanced stage and the country is "almost ready" to join the area.

Last week, the governor of North Macedonia's central bank, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska, told SeeNews in an interview that the country too plans to apply for SEPA membership by June.

Western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia - agreed to cut financial transaction fees across the region by aligning their regulations with those of countries in the single payment area this year, EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said earlier this month.

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama has said transaction fees in the Western Balkans are currently six times higher in the region compared with EU countries.