Forum on the Future of Payments with a focus on Fintech

Prishtina, March 2, 2022 – The American Chamber of Commerce organized a forum to discuss the Future of Payments: Focus on FinTech, with Sokol Havolli, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Gazmend Selmani, from PBC / ibas, and Astrit Leti, Director of Operations in TIVE as speakers.

Sokol Havolli, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank said that the Central Bank is working on creating more efficient payment mechanisms, which would reduce the use of cash. Further, when discussing the problems that financial institutions face, he stressed that Kosovo does not have a payment processing center, and consequently each transaction has a higher cost than if such a center existed.

Gazmend Selmani, from PBC / ibas, mentioned two key components in the independent functioning of a financial institution, one component is the inclusion in the interbank payment system, while the other component is the creation of instruments that encourage operators to provide payment methods electronically. He said that with these two elements, the number of electronic payments would increase. He added that when citizens are not sure that they will be able to pay electronically, they make sure they have cash with them, and this consequently reduces the number of electronic payments in relation to the opportunities that are in the market.

Astrit Leti, Director of Operations at TIVE, when speaking on how to decrease the use of cash, he stressed that we must fight tax evasion. He said tax evasion encourages people to pay in cash. He stressed that if we fight tax evasion with the mechanisms we have, then consequently, the number of electronic payments would increase. He further mentioned two important issues in establishing new payment methods: combating tax evasion and establishing a good legal infrastructure.