(Finance) – It was held today in Koch Palace there Letter of intent signing ceremony for the start of a project for the creation of an instant payments system in the western Balkan area. Participated in Governor and Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italytogether with Governors and Deputy Governors of the Central Banks of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro.
The collaboration agreement provides for the supply by the Bank of Italy of a system for instant payments based on a twin of the TIPS servicethe European platform for the real-time settlement of instant payments designed, created and managed by the Bank of Italy on behalf of the Eurosystem. To the initiative, approved by the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro have joined (North Macedonia reserves the right to join in the near future).
The new platform, which it will be operational within 18 months of the start of works – scheduled for the next few weeks – will allow payments to be made in all currencies of the participating countries. Further features will be developed after the initial implementation phase. The platform will also allow the prospective establishment of a bilateral connection for the settlement of payments between the area served by TIPS and the Western Balkan area, through a technologically advanced and low-cost solution.
Signing the Letter of Intent represents an important step in the process of integration of the Western Balkan countries with the financial system of the European Union.