In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 108,706 orders with a total value of 67,688,658.16 KM were successfully settled in the two months of operation of the domestic instant payment system /IPS BiH/, Srna in the Central Bank of BiH was told.
“Given the limited number of banks that are currently in the system, it is expected that the number and value of transactions will increase significantly in the coming period, especially with the inclusion of new participants, which is in line with global practice when introducing such infrastructures,” the Central Bank emphasizes.
The Bank reminds that on July 20, they launched IPS, which is fully harmonized with the EU IPS system, which gave BiH a modern, efficient system for executing instant payments, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
According to the rules of the system, the participation of banks in the system is mandatory, but for the initial months of operation, a phased approach to the inclusion of banks is foreseen, and currently five banks participate in the system – Inteza Sanpaolo, Rajfajzen, Šparkase, and Nova and Atos banka.
The Central Bank points out that other banks in BiH are continuously conducting preparatory activities for joining the IPS, as well as that it is expected that the banks that handle the majority of interbank payment traffic will be included in the system by the end of this year, while the others are scheduled to be included by July next year.
As they emphasize, the functioning of the system so far shows that IPS BiH works stably and without operational interruptions, with a continuous growth in the number and value of transactions executed through the system.
“The availability of the system 24/7/365 opens up space for changes in user habits when it comes to the method and time of making payments. Based on the data so far, it is evident that a good part of payments are made outside the traditional working hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,” added the Central Bank.
As they point out, the Central Bank has strategically positioned the instant payment system in the BiH payment ecosystem, and in the coming period, in addition to the inclusion of new participants, the entire spectrum of services based on IPS as an infrastructure will be enabled, which will enable additional growth of cashless transactions in the economy.
“The domestic instant payment system, as a solid and efficient infrastructure, actually represents the basis of digital transformation when it comes to payments,” concludes the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
