Montenegro and Albania have joined the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment schemes, the European Payments Council (EPC) Board announced.
The adherence of Montenegrin and Albanian financial institutions to the SEPA payment schemes, according to the EPC calendar, will be enabled starting from April 2025.
The Operational Readiness Date (ORD) for payment service providers (PSPs) from Montenegro and Albania will be communicated later by the EPC.
SEPA ensures seamless cross-border euro transactions
EPC payment scheme participants can now send and receive SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT), SEPA Instant Credit Transfers (SCT Inst), and SEPA Direct Debits (SDD) with participants in Montenegro and Albania, once their financial institutions join the schemes. The SEPA payment schemes now cover 38 countries.
The SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payment scheme is a European initiative that simplifies and standardizes electronic euro payments across participating countries. It ensures that cross-border euro transactions—such as credit transfers, direct debits, and card payments—are as seamless, efficient, and cost-effective as domestic payments within any member country.
- Key features include:
Standardized formats: Payments use IBAN and BIC codes, ensuring uniformity. - Euro transactions only: SEPA is exclusively for payments made in euros.
- Scope: It includes 36 European countries and territories, plus now Montenegro and Albania, making it 38.
The scheme is managed by the European Payments Council (EPC) and is aimed at fostering integration and economic efficiency within the eurozone and beyond.
Before Albania and Montenegro joined the SEPA payment scheme, the most recent additions were Andorra (joined in March 2019) and San Marino (joined in March 2014). Both countries joined after the initial SEPA launch, which included EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and Monaco.
PSPs must enable instant payments for their customers
Recent developments in SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments include several regulatory updates and technical transitions that are reshaping the landscape of European payments.
Mandatory SEPA Instant Payments: From January 2025, payment service providers (PSPs) within the eurozone must enable instant payments for their customers. The timeline extends to October 2025 for sending such payments. These changes also require PSPs to introduce enhanced payer-payee verification mechanisms, such as ensuring the beneficiary’s name matches the IBAN. Instant payments will be capped at €100,000 per transaction, with an option for customers to set individual limits.
Transition to ISO 20022 Standards: SEPA schemes adopted the 2019 version of the ISO 20022 messaging standard by March 2024. This change introduced improved data quality and payment processing efficiency, supporting evolving global payment needs. Payment institutions must adapt their systems to comply with these updated guidelines, ensuring seamless operations and better integration with international payment systems.
Operational Adjustments: Institutions must modernize their IT systems to support 24/7 availability for real-time payments and implement new name verification services. Simplified sanction screening protocols are also being introduced to ease compliance processes.
