TIRANA, July 29 /ATA/ – Albania is expected to join the Single European Payments Area (SEPA), a move that would save Albanian emigrants, importers and exporters millions of euros due to lower money transfer fees, fast payouts and transactions.

The Governor of the Bank of Albania said via a video-message on social media on Monday that payments and transactions through SEPA are safer and much cheaper.

“Transactions and payments can be made anytime and from anywhere across Europe. No delays or costly fees are applied to cross-border euro transfers via SEPA,” central bank governor said.

He added SEPA membership will encourage the senders of remittances to use official channels, in addition to increasing the value of savings, as the system will provide for much cheaper and faster transactions.

Albania is the first country in the Western Balkans region to have submitted its application to join the SEPA. The country’s membership has been welcomed by the banking industry too.

Albanian businesses and individuals have for years complained that bank transfers — both domestic and international – are costly and slow in Albania, hampering trade and other elements of doing business.

While SEPA membership won’t affect trade with non-members, for transactions with the EU, EFTA, the UK (which stayed in SEPA after Brexit) and domestically, it will make a big difference, experts say.

SEPA membership would make it much easier for Albanians and Europeans to do business as it simplifies cross-border payments between member countries as well as domestic payments.

Participation in SEPA enables the application of equal tariff principles, both for domestic and electronically processed cross-border payments in euros.