The Bank of Albania has drafted a new regulation to define payment fees after the country joins the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The goal is to align cross-border euro transfers with domestic payment costs and ensure greater transparency.

According to the draft, banks and payment institutions cannot charge more than the domestic euro transfer fee set by the Bank of Albania. The minimum commission for local transfers through the AIPS Euro system will drop from 6 to 4 Euros.

For transfers up to 150,000 Euros, total fees may not exceed 0.02% of the transfer value. Transfers made via e-banking will benefit from lower fees, with the minimum set at 2 Euros and a maximum of 0.01% of the value.

The maximum fee remains unchanged, 50 Euros for in-branch transfers and 25 Euros for electronic ones.

These ceilings will also apply to outgoing SEPA transfers. For incoming SEPA transfers, if fees are applied, they must reflect actual processing costs and cannot exceed 3 Euros per transaction.

/a.p./