Digital Payments & Fintech - Albania

Regulation 59/2021 lays down conditions, documentation, and procedures for licensing Payment Institutions and Electronic Money Institutions in Albania; the Bank of Albania is the sole licensing and supervisory authority.

The Bank of Albania's Supervisory Council approved the Regulation 'On the Activity and Supervision of Electronic Money Institutions' on 21 December 2022; it entered into force on 1 March 2023, setting capital, safeguarding, and conduct requirements for EMIs.

Albania was formally admitted to the SEPA geographical scope on 21 November 2024, becoming one of the first Western Balkans enlargement partners to join; Albanian commercial banks began submitting individual scheme-adherence applications in 2025, with cross-border SEPA transactions scheduled to commence in October 2025.

The Bank of Albania granted its first open banking licence to EasyPay (an EMI) in November 2024, enabling Payment Initiation Services; the first live PIS-to-bank transactions occurred in Q1 2025, with Union Financiar Tirana licensed shortly after.

In January 2025 the Bank of Albania, in cooperation with the Bank of Italy, initiated development of a domestic instant-payment platform modelled on the Eurosystem's TARGET Instant Payment System (TIPS); the system is not yet live.

Regulation 51/2024 'On operational risk management by banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions' entered into force on 1 March 2025; a separate strong customer authentication regulation aligns with PSD2 Article 97 standards. No dedicated BNPL-specific regulatory framework has been enacted as of mid-2026.