ff direct debits;
b) execution of payment transactions through a payment card or a similar device; and
c) execution of credit transfers, including standing orders.
Issuing of payment instruments and/or acquiring of payment transactions.
Money remittance.
Payment initiation services.
Account information services.
The licensing application undergoes through BoA and includes inter alia a description of the activity sought to be carried out, a business plan including a forecast budget calculation for the first three (3) financial years, evidence of the minimum initial capital, description of the applicant’s governance arrangements and internal control mechanisms etc.
Registration costs include a fee to be paid to the BoA amounting to approximately EUR 250, without including costs for translation services for the documents required from the BoA, lawyers’, and financial advisors’ costs for preparation of these documents which are computed case by case. Minimum capital requirements for a payment institution in Albania are from approx. EUR 20,000 to approx. EUR 375,000 depending on the type of payment services covered by the license.
Additional comments regarding the legal situation for payment services or what FinTech’s must be aware of in this business area
N/A.
Economic conditions
Market size for payment services and biggest payment service providers
The payment services market is becoming more and more attractive as only for the year 2021 the BoA has licensed three (3) new institutions as issuers of electronic money. Based on the data published by BoA, for the first half of 2021 the total number of payments through electronic means reached 2.95 million, a figure that constitutes 78% of the total number of transactions made throughout 2020. Measured as a monthly average, during 2021 the number of transactions was 492,000 payments, while for the previous year the average monthly number of transactions was 316,000. The value of electronic money transactions for the first six (6) months of 2021 was on average 1.26 billion ALL per month – i.e. approx. 11 million Euro.
Additional comments regarding the economic situation for payment services or what FinTech’s must be aware of in this business area
N/A.