National Payments Council holds annual meeting on reforms for modernizing the payment system and integration into SEPA

On 17 June 2025, the National Payments Council (NPC) held its thematic meeting on reforms for the modernization of the national payments system and integration into SEPA, which are expected to bring significant benefits to the economy and citizens.

The meeting, chaired by the Deputy Governor of the CBK for Banking Operations, Mr. Dardan Fusha in the role of the NPC Chairman, opened with welcoming remarks by the Governor of the CBK, Mr. Ahmet Ismaili, the Acting Minister of Finance, Mr. Hekuran Murati, as well as representatives from the World Bank, IFC and the Banking Association. The broad participation of leaders of public and private institutions, as well as international partner institutions, demonstrated the strong institutional support for these reforms.

The focus of the discussions was the progress of the CBK in concluding the pre-application for SEPA membership and preparing for access to SEPA schemes and the European fast payments system. The benefits related to security, efficiency, cost reduction and time of transfers and remittances were highlighted.

In conclusion, several key recommendations were presented, including the continuation of the work of the groups in preparations, among others, for:

• Upgrade of the payment infrastructure (KIPS);
• Implementation of the TIPS clone fast payment system;
• Legal and technical preparation for SEPA applications; and
• Establishment of the Inter-institutional Working Group for the implementation of Open Banking;

The conclusions have been distributed and approved by the members of the Council. The meeting materials are available to the public and interested parties, at the following links:

Meeting Agenda – 17.06.2025

Summary of Discussions – Meeting Minutes and Recommendations/Conclusions

Presentations of this Meeting:

Mr. Dardan Fusha, Central Bank of Kosovo: Developments in legal and technical infrastructure in the field of payments;

Mr. Lumni Rrustolli, Central Bank of Kosovo: Financial Inclusion – data on the development of payment services infrastructure and statistics;

Mr. Atdhetar Ibrahimi, representative from the NBFIs: Actions taken by payment service providers regarding the digitalization of payment services;

Mr. José M. Moreno de Barreda, IFC: Establishment of the Working Group for the implementation of Open Banking;

Mr. Dardan Fusha, Central Bank of Kosovo: Open discussion and presentation of the conclusions and recommendations from the meeting.