The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council.

We spoke with Jorgovanka Tabaković, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), about Serbia’s path towards joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the digital transformation of its payment landscape, and the central bank’s efforts to foster innovation and financial inclusion. She also shared insights on how SEPA integration will strengthen Serbia’s European Union (EU) accession process and create new opportunities for consumers, businesses, and the broader financial sector. 

Can you describe Serbia’s current payment landscape and recent notable changes?

Even before this project, the NBS had implemented important reforms in the payments market, including the application of key EU directives and regulations on payment services and systems, thus achieving full compliance with EU rules and standards. Our primary goal is to encourage innovation, enhance competition and transparency in payment service provision, and upgrade consumer protection and the security of executing payment transactions.

In addition to ongoing improvements to our regulatory framework, for years we have invested in digitalising the market and building state-of-the-art technological infrastructures. In this context, I wish to highlight the Instant Payment Serbia - NBS IPS system (IPS), launched in 2018, which executes transactions within seconds and offers numerous services to households and businesses such as money transfer based on mobile phone number only, payment by scanning the NBS IPS QR code on paper invoices, and the deep link technology enabling instant payments at online points of sale.

In May 2025, the EPC approved the inclusion of Serbia in SEPA. What advantages do you foresee?

By joining SEPA, the Republic of Serbia made an important step towards deeper EU financial and economic integration. Our households and businesses will feel the real benefits of this when payment service providers (PSPs) from Serbia join SEPA payment schemes and connect to pan-European payment systems. 

Inclusion in SEPA can bring specific and palpable benefits to Serbia, such as lower transaction costs, faster payments, greater confidence in financial institutions, and an impulse to growth in electronic trading and the digital economy. 

One of the challenges is to set up a model that will enable direct execution of commercial banks’ payment transactions via the NBS, eliminating the need for intermediation by correspondent banks and creating conditions for lowering transaction costs. Our priority is to ensure that consumers are offered the same level of the service in real time as that which has been available to them, for years now for domestic payments and that conditions are created to lower the fees on international payment transactions, specifically within SEPA.

Have the NBS or government measured the economic impact of inclusion in SEPA?

In analysing the benefits of joining SEPA, we considered the needs of consumers, legal persons, and other economic entities, and concluded that implementation would result in greater business opportunities, facilitating access to the European market of goods and services. As part of its activity, the NBS also collects data on cross-border payments and the costs involved. These data and information on potential future costs of transactions will help us find a solution that will ensure an actual reduction in costs and faster transactions. Most commercial banks in Serbia have parent banks in the EU and make cross-border payments through them, which has had a favourable impact on both the speed and the costs. By joining SEPA, we aim to offer the experience of instant or near instant cross-border payments and ensure that banks do business on equal terms regardless of whether their parent bank is located in an EU country or not.

How have electronic payment methods – such as mobile payments, e-wallets, and online banking – evolved in Serbia, and what impact are they having on consumer behaviour and financial inclusion?

The Serbian payments market offers numerous types of e-payments. The number of e- and especially m- banking users has been rising steadily. In advanced markets, this is a key indicator of inclusion. In the past five years, the average number of m-banking payments increased by thirty percent annually, with the number of users rising at double-digit percentage rates. By constantly improving the technical and legislative framework, the NBS has modernised the domestic market in line with the latest standards. This includes the launch of the domestic IPS, which processes up to half a million payments daily, as well as the different services developed based on this system.

Thanks to these improvements, the average daily number of instant payments at Point Of Sale (POS) rose almost tenfold in four years, exceeding 4,000 transactions today. On the acceptance side, this was made possible by expanding the network of modern POS terminals – more than 180,000 – and the increase in the number of virtual POSs. They number over 5,200 today, two times more than four years ago. It is precisely because of the speed, security, and technical simplicity that we expect positive trends in e-payments and financial inclusion to continue.

How do you see the Serbian payments sector developing in the near future?

The NBS will continue to encourage and introduce innovation in the area of payment services, including the development of modern technologies, in order to preserve financial stability and ensure consumer protection. As our mandate includes the preservation of financial stability, we will stay focused on developing a stable and stimulating environment, building the trust of consumers and financial institutions, and contributing to the long-term stability and sustainable development of Serbia’s financial sector.