The First Meeting of the National Payment System Committee
10/06/2025
Today, the National Payment System Committee held its first meeting at the CBCG premises.
At the meeting, they discussed upcoming activities related to the modernisation of the national payment system, with special reference to the recently launched new generation of the national payment system RTS/X and the process of technical accession of Montenegrin banks to the payment schemes of the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) and the SEPA pricing policy. They also discussed the launch of the TIPS Clone project, IBAN, and other current issues.
As part of the most significant functional and technological reform of the domestic payment system since 2005, through introducing the RTS/X platform, the members discussed the extension of payment transaction working hours until 8:00 p.m. and the full activation of the working regime during weekends and holidays - including non-working days - by the end of 2025 at the latest. This novelty will enable citizens and businesses to make payments outside the usual deadlines without waiting for the next working day.
At the meeting, they also discussed the implementation of the International Transaction Account Number (IBAN), which brings multiple benefits through increased security, efficiency, regulatory compliance and competitiveness of the national financial system.
Discussing Montenegro’s membership in SEPA, the members noted that the process of operational joining of Montenegrin banks to SEPA payment schemes is progressing following the stipulated deadlines, with the evident commitment of the CBCG and the banks to implementing the strategic goal - full integration into the European payment area. In the coming months, the focus will be on technical testing, finalising the tariff policy and supporting banks in the final phase of preparations for 6 October, the day when Montenegrin citizens and the economy will be able to make the first international transactions through SEPA payment schemes.
They discussed in detail the upcoming activities related to the TIPS Clone project, which the CBCG, with the support of the European Central Bank, is implementing in cooperation with the Banca d’Italia. The TIPS Clone system, developed on the European Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) system model, will enable Montenegro’s citizens and the economy to make instant payments in real-time, 24/7, with an irrevocable settlement of funds.
The National Payment System Committee was established to improve the standards of safe and efficient payment transactions and to establish cooperation in providing payment transaction services. The Committee acts as an inter-institutional voluntary body whose work is coordinated by the CBCG and cooperates with national payment transaction boards of other countries, including EU member states.
The CBCG VIce-Governor Zorica Kalezić chairs the National Committee. Its members include the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Bojana Bošković and Aleksandra Popović, and representatives of the banking sector, Žana Mijović Vukčević, Mileva Marojević, and Luka Uskoković. Representatives of the Association of Montenegrin Banks, the Union of Employers, the fintech community and the NGO sector also attended today’s meeting.