Direct payment transactions between Montenegro and Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should be established this month after 16 years, through Universal Capital Bank (UCB), which is the only bank that has expressed interest in joining for this long period of time in the clearing system of payments (direct payments) between the three countries.
This will mean that the citizens and the economy will have lower costs because until now they had to pay money through foreign (correspondent) banks, which was more expensive, and that the money will be in their account the same day it is paid. Through correspondent banks, they waited for several days.
In September 2007, the Central Banks of Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded a special agreement on the clearing of international payments by which payment services were supposed to be cheaper, however, direct payment transactions came to life in 2007 between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Montenegro did not join that system because there was no interest from the Montenegrin bank to enter this payment system. The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) was appointed as the operator of this system.
Montenegro will establish direct payment transactions with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was confirmed by UCB Bank and the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG).
UCB said that in a letter sent to the CBCG on November 8th, 2022, they expressed interest in the international payments clearing project with the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the project of the European Commission, the World Bank and the Regional Cooperation Council entitled “Modernization of cross-border payments in the countries of the Western Balkans”, which were actualized at that moment through the media.
– After that initial letter, a meeting was held at the CBCG, where representatives of the CBCG informed us about the general rules of participation in the clearing system of international payments with Serbia and BiH, while there was no more information about the project “Modernization of cross-border payments in the countries of the Western Balkans”, except those placed in the media. UCB considered inclusion in the clearing system of international payments with Serbia and BiH in the middle of this year, made the final decision to join it, and informed the CBCG about it in a letter on August 9th of this year – UCB said.
