In 2022, the Automated Interbank Payment System (SAPI) processed 14.3 million transactions worth 1.22 trillion lei. The National Bank of Moldova says the system was available 99.9% of the time, with no major incidents able of affecting participants and critical processes.
According to the NBM, indicators of activity with payment cards maintained their upward trend. The number of cards in circulation increased by 19.2% compared to the previous year, and the number of cashless payments made with cards issued in the country increased by 33.8% compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, Automated Remote Service (SADD) systems are becoming more and more popular among users. Last year, there was a 23.4% increase in the number of SADD holders compared to the previous year, especially due to the increase in the number of users of mobile-payments systems.
“In 2022, the SAPI modernization project was successfully carried out, without deviations from the deadlines established in the project plan, with the new system being launched into production on May 23, 2022”, according to a press release.
At the same time, last year a purchase contract was signed with the supplier responsible for implementing the solution and the Project Management Plan dedicated to the implementation of a new payment scheme (instant payments). The system is expected to be launched in February 2024.
In 2022, the National Bank of Moldova became one of the beneficiaries of a twinning technical assistance project, financed by the European Commission, in which two components concern payment systems. The first effort includes revising, developing, improving the internal regulations of the NBM in the field of monitoring the financial market infrastructure. The second concerns the alignment of the legal framework and regulations with the SEPA rules, as well as assistance in the preparation of the SEPA accession aplication as a non-EEA (European Economic Area) member state.
