Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina has officially submitted a request for access to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), marking one of the most important steps in the country’s integration process into the European payments system.
Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBiH) stated that this ended the multi-year application preparation phase; two years ago, the SEPA accession process was placed among its strategic priorities.
The application was delivered to the European Payments Council, which will, together with other European bodies, consider the submitted documentation. The process includes a detailed analysis and potential requests for additional clarification and information. Following this review, a final decision to accept Bosnia and Herzegovina into SEPA will be made.
The Central Bank explained that even after approval, citizens and the economy will not immediately benefit from the system. Following accession, a phase of technical, operational, and organizational preparations will begin. Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina will coordinate this with competent authorities and banks.
During this period, commercial banks will have to align their IT and business systems with the SEPA standards and access adequate European payment schemas. Although part of the preparation is already completed, a significant part of the activity can be implemented only after a formal accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to SEPA.
For this reason, the first SEPA transactions can be expected no earlier than six months after Bosnia and Herzegovina officially becomes a member of the Single Euro Payments Area.
SEPA currently encompasses all 27 EU Member States and 14 European countries, which include Great Britain, Switzerland, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and North Macedonia.
Accessing this system should have many benefits for citizens and the economy, above all, safer and significantly cheaper cross-border euro payments. According to CBBiH data, in the Western Balkan Countries that are already part of the SEPA system, fees for individual international payments have been reduced by 50 to 94 percent.
The World Bank’s assessment showed that citizens and the economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina could save around 100 million euros annually on banking fees.
Joining the SEPA system is particularly significant as the majority of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian diaspora lives in countries that are part of this payment area, sending around four billion BAM in remittances to Bosnia and Herzegovina annually.
For the economy, membership would mean lower cross-border payment costs, easier transactions with European partners, faster payment execution, and greater competitiveness in the international market. The entire process should contribute to modernizing payment systems and developing digital financial services in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
