Payment System

In the broadest sense of the term, payment system is a set of systems enabling transfer and circulation of funds. To perform its role successfully, the payment system must fulfill three prerequisites. One is that the financial assets should be kept in payment transaction channels for as short a time as possible. The second involves reliability and implies secure performance of transactions and uninterrupted availability, while the last, but not the least, is the affordability of the prices of these services.

Considering that the payment system strongly influences the velocity of flows in the economy, overall costs and liquidity of participants, and that it serves as a monetary policy transmission channel (disruptions in the payment system could compromise public confidence in the financial system as a whole), it comes naturally that the central bank should be the one highly interested in ensuring its efficient functioning.

In fact, one of the key legally-mandated functions of the National Bank of Serbia is to regulate, oversee and promote smooth operation of the national payment system.