CBBH officially applied for joining the SEPA

Today, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) officially applied for accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), making one of the most significant steps in the process of integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European payment area.

CBBH launched the SEPA integration process two years ago and set it as one of its strategic priorities. As the coordinator of activities through the SEPA Accession and Participation Coordination Committee(SEPA APCC), the CBBH led and coordinated all phases of the process with domestic and international institutions in order to fulfill the conditions for the membership.

The European Payments Council and other European bodies are now starting to consider the submitted documentation. This process includes a detailed analysis, possibly requesting additional clarifications or additions, and making a final decision on the admission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the SEPA.

The reception is followed by a phase of technical, operational and organizational preparations, which the CBBH will coordinate with all relevant institutions and provide support to market participants. Commercial banks should harmonize their IT and business systems with SEPA standards, and access the appropriate European payment schemes. Although a large part of the work was done before the application, a significant part of these activities can only be carried out after formal admission. For this reason, the first SEPA transactions could be expected no earlier than six months after the entry of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Single Euro Payment Area.

The SEPA currently includes all 27 member states of the European Union and 14 other European countries, including Great Britain, Switzerland, Albania, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the SEPA will bring numerous concrete benefits to citizens, the economy and the financial sector as a whole. The most significant advantage is reflected in faster, safer and significantly cheaper cross-border payments in euros.

In the countries of the Western Balkans, which are already part of the SEPA system, fees for some international payments have been reduced by 50% to as much as 94%, and according to World Bank estimates, in the case of BH, the savings on fees could amount to around 100 million euros.

Joining the SEPA for BH citizens means that remittances and other payments will arrive faster and cheaper. The largest part of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian diaspora lives in the SEPA countries and annually transfers about four billion KM to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

For businesses, membership in the SEPA means lower costs of international payment transactions, easier operations with European partners, faster payment processing and higher competitiveness in the international market. This will contribute to the improvement of the business environment, investment growth and economic development of BH as a whole. The importance of joining the SEPA is further confirmed by the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina realizes more than 80 percent of its foreign trade with the SEPA member states.

At the same time, this process contributes to the modernization of payment transactions, the development of digital financial services, strengthening the overall resilience and competitiveness of the financial sector.

The successful preparation of the application for accession to the SEPA is the result of intensive efforts of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina staff. On this occasion, the CBBH expresses its gratitude to the Entity Ministries of Finance, the Banking Agencies, and representatives of the Association of BH Banks with whom it worked on this crucial project through the Coordination Board. Exceptional professional and technical support in the implementation of this process was provided to the Central Bank of BH by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs through the BCC Program, the Embassy of Switzerland in BH, the World Bank, the European Commission and the Delegation of the European Union to BH.