Governor of the National Bank of Moldova Anca Dragu signed on January 30 an application for Moldova's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
The respective application for Moldova's accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) was signed by the head of the National Bank of Moldova on Tuesday in the presence of the management of licensed Moldovan banks and media representatives. Anca Dragu called this day historic for Moldova, noting that the NBM made a clear and unambiguous statement about Moldova's desire to be part of the European systems, the Single Euro Payments Area. "This shows our commitment, NBM's contribution to following this European path, and at the same time, an important moment for the Moldovan economy, for all participants in the economic turnover, companies, citizens, the state," the NBM Governor said. According to her, Moldova's accession to SEPA will result in ensuring cashless payments in euros to and from the European area, offering Moldovan citizens safer, faster and more convenient payments at lower prices. "One of the benefits of Moldova's participation in SEPA will be the cost of payments. They will not only be fast, transparent, reliable, but also at a sustainable price. With this system, a payment can be made within about 24 hours and instead of paying 20, 30, 50 euros per transaction, we will pay about 1, 2, 3 euros. This means a huge step for everyone involved in the economic system. Both companies and individuals can make payments. Joining SEPA will be good news for Moldovan citizens who live and work abroad and transfer money to relatives in the country," Anca Dragu said. According to her, SEPA is a payment system that ensures the efficiency of payments, standardization of processes, transparency of processes, which is important for the credibility of transactions, facilitates cross-border transactions and stimulates trade, as a fast, reliable payment at a low price allows boosting trade relations. "And last but not least, it is a decisive step towards the consolidation of the single market, and for Moldova, it is a commitment to be part of the single European market," the NBM Governor emphasized. According to her, there are two stages in the process of joining SEPA: assesment and connection. In general, it is forecasted that about a year will be needed for the assessment stage, while for the accession - less time, about half of this period. "These stages are beyond our control. We will start a dialog with the European Payment Systems Council if clarifications are needed. This is a normal process, a dialog in the course of evaluation," the head of the National Bank of Moldova said. She also drew attention to the fact that the initiative of Moldova's joining SEPA was supported by commercial banks, although some skeptics said that bankers would not support joining this system, as it would disadvantage the banks. Anca Dragu said that the presence of banks' representatives at the event to sign the application for Moldova's accession to SEPA is gratifying and means the maturity of the market. "Banks are aware of the moment the Moldovan economy is in and the direction of its development," the NBM Governor said. She also expressed gratitude for the support of the team of the twinning project "Strengthening supervision, corporate governance and risk management in the financial sector of Moldova", financed by the European Union and implemented by the central banks of Romania, Lithuania and the Netherlands, as well as all those involved in Moldova in promoting the project of Moldova's accession to SEPA. Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a single area in which the distinction between domestic and international payments in euros is completely eliminated. The aim of the project is to improve the efficiency of interstate payments and unite national markets of different countries into a single home market. SEPA will allow users to make non-cash payments in euros to any other user located anywhere in the zone, using a single bank account and a single set of payment instruments. Additional savings are achieved due to the obligation of banks to credit SEPA payments in full amount to the beneficiary's account and without any commissions. Payments are executed not later than 1 business day after they are processed. The project includes the creation of common financial instruments, standards, procedures and infrastructure to support the economy on the scale of all participating countries. // 30.01.2024 - InfoMarket.
