BRUSSELS – On 6 March, the European Payments Council (EPC) Board has approved the inclusion of the Republic of North Macedonia and Moldova in the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment schemes.
In November last year, Montenegro and Albania became the first-ever enlargement countries to join the geographical scope of SEPA.
According to the EPC statement, adherence of financial institutions from these countries 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 the Republic of North Macedonia and Moldova is set for 5 October 2025.
Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Micskoski welcomed the decision on his X account.
“This means that the transfer of remittances to our citizens from the diaspora will be immediate, without delay and without additional costs and commissions. The same applies to companies”, Micskoski wrote.
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a pan-European initiative, launched in 2008, to simplify, accelerate and harmonise electronic payments, while reducing costs as much as possible. The initiative was primarily designed for the European Union market, but the SEPA area now has a total of 40 countries, not just all EU member states.
Last year, the National Bank of North Macedonia stated for European Western Balkans that SEPA brings multiple benefits to citizens, the economy and payment service providers.
“Citizens will be able to receive and send money in euros in the SEPA countries in a cheap, fast and simple manner. For them, the accessing also means lower fees, as well as improved cash flow management, considering that SEPA transfers are usually processed within one business day, and with instant payments, the transfer of funds will be carried out in 10 seconds at most, in any time during the day, i.e. within normal working hours, but also outside working hours, as well as on weekends and holidays”, the National Bank of North Macedonia clarified.