cAPITAL
Albanian citizens will now be able to make electronic payments at minimal cost, just like citizens of the European Union. The Bank of Albania has approved a new regulation, which reduces by up to 10 times the commissions that private banks can charge for electronic payments within the country, by setting a mandatory ceiling.
Currently, there are three systems through which all payments in the country are processed. They are the AIPS system in lek, which carries out high-value payments in lek. The second system is AIPS euro, which carries out payments in euro, while the third system is AECH. This carries out small-value payments in lek.
Until now, the limit that separated the AIPS and AECH systems was 1.5 million lek. So an electronic payment up to 1.5 million lek was made through the AECH system, while above this value it was automatically transferred to the AIPS system. The two systems had large differences in commissions.
A day ago, the Bank of Albania decided to increase the limit for so-called small value payments from 1.5 million lek to 10 million lek. This is the first important change that significantly reduces the costs of electronic payments, but not the only one.
How much are the commissions reduced?
First, the amount exempted from the commission is doubled. Until now, Albanian citizens could make electronic payments of up to 20 thousand lekë, through e-banking applications installed on their phones, without commission. With the new regulation, this amount increases to 40 thousand lekë. So from today, citizens can also pay loan installments of up to 40 thousand lekë from their phone, without paying any commission.
Secondly, for electronic payments from 40 thousand to 1.5 million lek, the commission is reduced from the current 500 lek to 50-75 lek.
Third, for electronic payments from 1.5 to 10 million lek, the commission is reduced from 1,500 lek, which is currently 75-500 lek.
While for payments higher than 10 million lek, the maximum commission that banks can charge is limited to 750 lek.
Change of committees
These were payments in lek. But there will also be significant reductions in commissions for electronic payments in euros, always within the country.
More specifically, for payments in euros, the commission is reduced from 0.1 percent of the value to 0.01 percent of the value. Thus, if to transfer 50 thousand euros from one private Albanian bank to another private Albanian bank, a 50 euro commission was paid until now, with the new regulation the bank cannot keep more than 5 euros of commission.
The regulation approved the day before by the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania also reduces commissions for payments that citizens make physically at bank branches. Thus, for payments in euros, they are reduced from 0.2 percent of the value to 0.02 percent of the value. While for payments worth up to 10 million lek, commissions are reduced from 1,500 lek to 500-1,000 lek.
Although these payment systems only operate domestically, Albania's membership in Sepa automatically makes them mandatory for cross-border payments as well. This means that Albanian citizens will pay the same reduced fees for transfers or payments abroad.
The decision of the previous day does not affect payments made via cards. Regarding card payment commissions, the BoA is expected to approve another intervention within the coming months.
Editorial
