19.05.2026.
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a system that enables euro payments between participating countries to be carried out in a simple, fast and secure manner. The basic idea behind SEPA is that cross-border payments should function in the same way as domestic payments, i.e. the aim is to simplify, accelerate and harmonise electronic payments throughout Europe. SEPA transactions are governed by standardised rules for cashless payments carried out within SEPA, through specific payment schemes (e.g. SEPA Credit Transfer – SCT, SEPA Direct Debit – SDD, and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer – SCT Inst). On 22 May 2025, Serbia became a SEPA member, enabling domestic banks to provide their clients with SEPA payment scheme services, which at this stage of SEPA implementation in Serbia includes the SEPA Credit Transfer scheme (SCT).
The SEPA system enables payment service users from Serbia to carry out euro transactions through the payment channels of this system with a large number of countries and territories that are part of SEPA, which, in addition to Serbia, covers 40 countries, including the countries of the European Economic Area (all European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein), together with Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and North Macedonia. SEPA also includes territories such as the Åland Islands, the Azores, the Canary Islands, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin.
For SEPA transactions to be executed, both the payer and the payee must hold accounts with banks participating in the SCT scheme.
A payment is initiated by submitting a payment order to the bank, either electronically (via mobile or electronic banking) or in paper form at the branch of the bank where the payer holds an account. The payment order contains the basic information required for execution of the payment, such as the amount, execution date and the payee’s IBAN, while sufficient funds must be available in the payer’s account for execution of the transaction. When payments are made to a payee whose payment service provider does not have the technical capability to derive the bank identifier code (BIC) from the IBAN, i.e. where the payee holds an account with a payment service provider in a SEPA country or territory outside the European Economic Area, the payer is also required to provide their bank with the BIC of the payment service provider with which the payee holds the account.
At the same time, when making or receiving payments, resident payers and payees are required to act in accordance with FX regulations. This means that a resident payer is obliged to provide the bank, together with the payment order, with information on the purpose of payment and supporting documentation based on which the payment is made. If the payment order is submitted prior to the delivery of the documentation, the consent for execution of the payment shall be deemed to have been given on the day the bank receives the required documentation.
Once the bank receives a duly completed payment order and verifies that payment conditions have been met, the transaction is forwarded to the payee through dedicated SEPA Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs). These systems operate in such a way that a bank participating in the SEPA payment scheme collects its users’ payment orders and forwards them in “batches”, in the prescribed format, to its CSM, while ensuring that sufficient funds are available in its settlement account for execution of all payment orders. The CSM receives payment “batches” from all banks participating in the system through it, repackages them into new “batches” grouped according to the payee banks and finally forwards them to those banks or their respective CSMs. Conversely, in the case of collections, the reverse process takes place – the CSM receives “batches” of collections for participating banks from other CSMs, repackages them by bank and forwards them to the banks for crediting to the payee accounts. During settlement, a bank’s account is credited in the amount of its positive net position (where the total amount of collections exceeds the total amount of payments) or debited in the case of a negative net position (where the total amount of payments exceeds the total amount of collections). The entire process is invisible to end users and fully automated, owing to the uniform technical and business rules applicable within the SEPA payment schemes.
When transactions are carried out through SEPA payment schemes, only the banks with which the payer and the payee hold accounts are visible to them, while all other participants are part of the automated system used for payment routing and settlement, with the aim of achieving maximum efficiency and further facilitating and simplifying the process for financial service users.
With regard to incoming payments received through the SCT scheme, the bank shall, without delay, make the funds available to the payee immediately upon receipt and crediting of funds to the account. Upon receiving notification from the bank that the funds have been credited to their account, the payee is required to provide the bank, on the same day or no later than the following working day, with information on the basis for collection and the necessary supporting documentation, where required under FX regulations.
When transactions are executed through the SCT scheme, if the payment order is completed incorrectly – where inaccurate information is provided or mandatory information is missing – the payer’s bank acts as follows:
If, prior to execution of the transaction, the payer’s bank determines that the payment order is incorrect or incomplete, the payment order will be rejected and will not enter the SEPA payment scheme. In such case, the transaction will not be executed, the funds will not be transferred to the payee, and the payer – the bank’s client – will receive a notification of rejection stating the reasons for such rejection.
If an incorrectly completed payment order formally passes the payer bank’s initial processing stage, but an error is subsequently identified during execution of the payment transaction (e.g. during clearing and settlement or at the payee’s bank), the funds may be returned to the payer, together with an indication of the reason for payment order rejection, of which the payer shall be duly informed by their bank. It is important to note that the payer’s bank may initiate a recall of the executed transfer; however, the bank cannot guarantee the return of such funds and shall not be liable if the funds are not returned. Therefore, the return depends on the payee’s bank.
Practical example:
In the execution of SCT transactions, one of the most common errors observed when completing payment orders is the inclusion of an incorrect payee IBAN. In such cases, if the payment order contains a non-existent IBAN, the payment order will be rejected. However, if an incorrect but existing IBAN is provided (belonging to another person rather than the intended payee), the payment will be executed, while the bank may initiate the recall of funds, whose successful execution depends on the payee’s bank.
The deadline for executing transactions through the SCT payment scheme is one working day (Т+1) from the moment the payer’s bank receives a duly and correctly filled-in payment order. In practice, this means that if the payer submits a payment order to the bank before the cut-off time, the funds will be transferred to the payee’s account by the end of the following working day at the latest. Therefore, if the payer submits a payment order to the bank after the expiration of the specified deadline, it shall be deemed to have been received on the next working day, which means the deadline for executing the payment order shall run from that moment, whereby it is important to bear in mind that the said deadline must be clearly and timely communicated to the payer by his bank. This way, SEPA enables predictable and even payment execution deadlines in all participating countries, and financial services users are ensured greater safety, transparency and efficiency when executing cross-border euro transactions within the SCT payment scheme.
As for fees that domestic banks charge their clients for executing payments within SEPA payment schemes, i.e. currently through the SCT scheme, it is important to emphasize that they are competitive compared to the countries in the region and lower than the fees previously charged for transactions in euros with SEPA member states.
The level of fees is also influenced by the fact that domestic banks currently participate in SEPA as indirect participants, which, in practice, means that transactions are carried out through intermediary (correspondent) banks abroad that are direct participants in the payment schemes. This business model has an impact on the total cost of payment execution.
With regard to this, although in accordance with the existing regulatory framework, the setting of fees lies within the business policy of each individual bank, and given that the SEPA framework in the Republic of Serbia is in the initial phase of implementation and banks are gradually adjusting their operations to the new European standards, we would like to underline that the NBS continuously monitors developments in this area and analyses the conditions in the payment services market, in order to, within its competencies, react in a timely manner should anything occur that could have a negative impact on financial services users in Serbia. This way we ensure that market developments are monitored and create conditions for its further improvement in the interest of citizens and businesses.
When it comes to the execution of FX payment transactions, citizens and businesses have several channels at their disposal that enable them to make payments abroad. First, regarding transactions with SEPA participating countries – the newly introduced SCT scheme certainly plays an exceptionally important role, enabling standardised and efficient payment execution with a high level of security and predictability in terms of deadlines and costs. Namely, banks in Serbia have enabled the execution of transactions via the SCT scheme from 4 and 5 May 2026, and they are obliged to offer financial services users from Serbia payments through this payment scheme – for transactions that meet the conditions for their execution, since payments under this scheme are processed within predefined deadlines, with a simple and uniform processing procedure, making it suitable for a large number of cross-border transactions.
Furthermore, where the aforementioned channels are not applicable, payments may also be executed via international banking networks that enable global accessibility of payment flows, such as the SWIFT technology.
On the other hand – when it comes to domestic payment transactions in euros, the NBS interbank FX clearing system stands out, established by the NBS as an important part of the national financial infrastructure. This system enables FX payment transactions to be executed within the country between participating banks, thereby ensuring greater efficiency, shorter execution times, and lower costs for users. It is particularly relevant to note that, regarding this payment channel, bank clients can execute transactions on the same day for orders sent by said banks by 2.00 pm, with a fee of only ten dinars per transaction for banks in the Republic of Serbia – which do not pay a fee for cash inflows.
For more information about this payment channel please go to https://www.nbs.rs/en/ciljevi-i-funkcije/platni-sistem/nbs-operator/kliring/index.html.
Bearing in mind the characteristics of certain channels, such as costs, execution speed, and degree of automation, banks are obliged to always provide financial services users in Serbia with information about the available options for executing FX payments, about the deadlines for submitting correct payment orders, as well as to enable them to choose the solution that best suits the specific transaction. In this way, they contribute to greater transparency, efficiency, and overall improvement of user experience in payment transactions.
The SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) payment scheme is one of the five payment schemes established by the European Payments Council, which enables the execution of payments in euros in near real-time, i.e. within a few seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round, provided that both the payer’s bank and the payee’s bank participate in this scheme.
As for the implementation of this scheme into the payment systems of the Republic of Serbia, i.e. the process of accession of payment service providers from Serbia to this payment scheme, it is important to first emphasize that banks in Serbia are in the initial phase of implementing the SEPA framework, whereby, in accordance with standard practice within SEPA, the usual first step is the introduction and implementation of the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme. This sequence is aligned with the practice of other SEPA participating countries and implies first ensuring the functioning of standard credit transfers as a basis for the further development of more advanced services, including instant payments.
The SCT Inst scheme is introduced subsequently and gradually, and the dynamics of its availability and implementation in Serbia largely depends on the technical and operational readiness of European banks and payment infrastructures to enable the connection and full participation of banks from Serbia in this payment scheme. Therefore, although SCT Inst is significant due to the speed and availability of real-time payments, citizens and businesses are already enabled to efficiently execute payment transactions in euros via the SCT scheme, which represents the first and basic step of SEPA integration.
SEPA – what it brings to citizens and the economy of the Republic of Serbia
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) represents the result of a European Union integration initiative intended to harmonise the way electric euro transactions are executed in Europe. Today, the geographical scope of SEPA covers 41 countries, including all European Union Member States.
The functioning of SEPA is based on the application of common and agreed technical standards and harmonised business rules, enabling efficient, secure and transparent execution of euro payment transactions across the entire SEPA area. The main objective of this pan-European payment integration project is to make euro denominated transactions across Europe simpler, faster and more standardised by aligning national payment systems of participating countries so that they operate as a single integrated system, ensuring that cross-border payments within SEPA are as convenient and efficient as domestic payments.
SEPA operates through five respective payment schemes, which provide the framework for the execution of transactions through specific payment instruments. Each scheme has its own binding rules, standards and participation requirements developed by the European Payments Council. Through participation in these schemes, payment service providers are able to offer their payment service users the execution of transactions within a standardised and fully automated environment.
Following the inclusion of the Republic of Serbia in the geographical scope of the SEPA payment schemes on 22 May 2025, Serbian payment service providers became eligible to adhere to specific SEPA schemes. Pursuant to the European Payments Council's calendar May 2026 was designated as the earliest date for their operational participation. In line with this timeline, the National Bank of Serbia and 18 out of 19 banks operating in the Republic of Serbia have adhered to the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) payment scheme and commenced its operational application. Thus, from that date onwards, payment service users in the Republic of Serbia are able to execute euro denominated transactions within the SEPA area more efficiently, faster and at a lower cost.
Preliminary statistical data collected by the National Bank of Serbia for May 2026 indicate that, already in the first month of the operational application of the SCT scheme in the Republic of Serbia, a significant share of cross-border euro-denominated transactions with SEPA countries was executed through this payment channel. These initial results confirm the successful integration of the SEPA framework into the domestic payment system, as reflected in its utilisation by domestic payment service users in practice.
The progress and adherence of domestic payment service providers to the SCT scheme have been supported by the National Bank of Serbia, which has acted as the institutional coordinator and principal authority responsible for ensuring the timely and harmonised integration of the domestic banking sector into the SEPA framework.
BENEFITS FOR CITIZENS AND THE ECONOMY
For citizens of the Republic of Serbia - its inclusion in the SEPA geographical scope brings numerous practical benefits. The ability to execute transactions under a unified and harmonized set of rules applicable across the entire SEPA area contributes to greater simplicity and predictability of the entire payment process.
A key advantage of the SCT scheme is reflected in its clearly defined execution rules applicable to all participants. Funds are credited to the payee’s account within one business day from the moment the payment service provider receives a duly completed payment order from the payer, and where required by applicable regulations, the necessary documentation and additional information regarding the transaction.
In addition, when conducting transactions under SEPA payment schemes, the payee receives the full amount of the transaction without deductions from intermediary banks, while each party bears its own bank charges in accordance with its respective tariff policy, thereby ensuring greater transparency and certainty in payment planning.
The importance of SEPA participation is particularly evident for the domestic economy. The European Union is one of the Republic of Serbia’s most significant foreign trade partners, and a substantial share of business transactions of domestic legal entities is conducted with counterparties from European countries.
In this context, the ability to execute payments with the European Union and other SEPA countries through standardised payment schemes enables more efficient cash flow management, improved business planning, and reduced cross-border payment costs.
This is particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute a significant part of the domestic economy. Faster and more predictable payments under SEPA schemes facilitate simplified and smoother cross-border business operations and can enhance their competitiveness, thereby supporting deeper integration into the European market.
SEPA AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
The inclusion of the Republic of Serbia in the SEPA geographical scope and the processing of SEPA payment transactions mark an important step towards integrating the domestic market into the European Union’s internal market.
Given that the accession process required compliance with stringent criteria and alignment of the domestic legal and institutional framework with relevant EU acquis in the area of payment services, as well as anti-money laundering and terrorism financing, SEPA membership confirms a high degree of regulatory alignment with EU standards, as well as the capacity of domestic institutions to consistently apply these standards in practice.
Accordingly, SEPA membership represents an important component of the broader European integration process and the continued harmonisation of the domestic financial system with the legal and institutional framework of the European Union.
Taking the aforementioned into account, it is evident that SEPA membership represents further integration of the domestic payment system into the European payment infrastructure, as well as an important milestone in the overall accession process of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union.
The introduction of SCT transactions has already enabled citizens and businesses to benefit from common European standards when conducting cross-border transactions, while further phases of the implementation of the SEPA project in the Republic of Serbia are expected to additionally enhance the efficiency of cross-border payments in the future.
The benefits of SEPA membership extend beyond faster and simpler payments, encompassing stronger connectivity with SEPA countries, increased competitiveness of the domestic economy, fostering of investments, and the development of modern financial services.
In this regard, SEPA accession represents a significant step forward in the modernisation of cross-border payment payment services and the integration of the Republic of Serbia into European economic flows.
Through this step, the National Bank of Serbia further confirms its role as a responsible and reliable institution ensuring the smooth functioning of the domestic payment system, while maintaining the country’s financial stability, as well as its clear commitment to enhancing efficiency, transparency and safety in payment operations and further strengthening the integration of Serbia’s financial system into the Single Euro Payments Area.
Governor`s Office
