The joining by Moldova of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) means that payments from Moldova to the European Union will be fast, will also be transparent from the point of view of banks, but first and foremost they will be much cheaper, the governor of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) Anca Dragu stated in the podcast “Give sense to money”.
“That is, compared to what is paid now for a transfer - €10, €20, €30, €40 euros depending on the bank, on the country and on the amount - when Moldova is in the SEPA zone, this cost will be €1, €2, €3 at most. This means that payments will be, as I said, safe, fast, but above all very cheap. You will no longer think that “I buy something for €200, but I also give €30 for the transfer,” said the NBM governor.
Moldova’s accession to SEPA will create trade dynamics. “Let's think about those who work abroad and want to send home some money. The costs are quite high. And I believe that they will be the ones who will feel first, directly and very pleasantly, Moldova’s membership in the euro payments system. The evaluation of the file will take about a year. It is hard to say more precisely because it doesn’t depend on us. And then it takes a few more months to implement the technical solution. But the first step was taken. We decided to start this discussion. And I think we also need to see the significance of this application for SEPA membership. The significance is that Moldova is moving towards the EU with all its forces, by all ways,” noted Anca Dragu.
“I found at the National Bank this project to submit an application to the EPC (European Payments Council) for Moldova’s accession to the Single Euro Payments Area. It was a project developed by colleagues from the NBM within this Twinning project, and they worked with the NBR, with colleagues from the National Bank of Romania. In fact, I recently had a discussion with them about the closing of this Twinning program. This program is actually coming to an end and many important steps have been taken within it,” said the governor.
Anca Dragu said that bankers, senior representatives of banks, the Association of Banks were also present at the signing of the application to join to SEPA. And they pointed out that the ease of payments actually extends banking services for everyone. “I mean, at this point, not everyone has an account, not everyone has access to a banking service, either it goes to a deposit or a loan. Or, when you somehow approach the banking sector through this ease of payments, you clearly become more bankable, closer to a more natural relationship between the citizen and the bank. So, banks supported the project, even if, yes, maybe immediately they will have lower revenues from commissions, but they can have, can actually accelerate the financial intermediation I was talking about,” noted the NBM governor.
The National Bank of Moldova signed Moldova’s application for accession to the Single Euro Payments Area on January 31.
