Governor Ismaili Participates as a speaker at the Event “Kosovo’s Membership in SEPA: Process, Progress, and Expected Benefits”

The Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo (CBK), Mr. Ahmet Ismaili, participated as a speaker at the event organized by the European Investors Council on the topic “Kosovo’s Membership in SEPA: Process, Progress, and Expected Benefits.” The event was attended by representatives of the European Investors Council, the European Union Office in Kosovo, the banking sector, insurance companies, and the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund.

During his speech, Governor Ismaili presented the activities undertaken by the CBK within the framework of Kosovo’s accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), outlining the current status and challenges of this process. He emphasized the importance of SEPA for Kosovo’s banking sector and financial system, highlighting its concrete benefits for the country’s economy, citizens, and businesses. He also elaborated on the significance of this process for regional cooperation and Kosovo’s path toward EU integration.

In this context, discussions covered the reforms undertaken by the CBK to prepare the legal and regulatory framework, the pre-application process with DG FISMA, the development of local instant payments, and the connection with regional instant payment systems through infrastructure reforms.

Participants also addressed the challenges and necessary activities for the preparatory phase and the implementation of SEPA access, as well as the need for proper communication regarding expectations from this process. The constitutional review of laws arising from SEPA membership, along with infrastructural and technical developments—parallel to the modernization of the payment system—were mentioned as key challenges affecting these processes.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed that SEPA membership will bring long-term benefits beyond just lowering cross-border payment costs. This process is expected to positively impact fund acceptance from the EU Growth Plan in the medium term and improve Kosovo’s EU membership perspective in the long term. Additionally, SEPA membership will enhance competition in the domestic payment service provider (PSP) market, reducing the costs of domestic bank transfers. Consequently, this cost reduction may encourage greater adoption of non-cash payment methods, leading to significant reductions in payment costs, increased transparency, improved sector liquidity, decreased informal economy activity, and better access to financial market for Kosovo’s citizens.

Another key benefit is expected to be the reduction of remittance transfer costs through banking transactions, encouraging the use of formal remittance channels.