Today, October 7, marks one year since our country’s operational integration into the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)—a historic step toward the modernization and European integration of the domestic payment system that has yielded concrete, visible benefits for citizens, the business community, and the economy as a whole, according to the Macedonian National Bank (NBRM).
“This significant achievement reaffirms the National Bank’s commitment to adopting European standards, as well as the domestic banking sector’s readiness and capacity to successfully integrate and operate within the common European market. The key benefit of joining SEPA is the enhancement of cross-border euro payments with its 40 member countries, enabling citizens and the business community to execute payments faster, more simply, and at significantly lower costs, under conditions comparable to those in the European Union.
It is estimated that integration into SEPA has already resulted in savings exceeding 5 million euros. Specifically, as of September 2026, over 581,000 transactions have been processed via SEPA, with a total value reaching approximately 11 billion euros. Fees for SEPA payments have been reduced by up to sixfold for citizens and up to ninefold for companies compared to the correspondent banking model.
These savings are expected to grow as the transition to the SEPA channel progresses, creating opportunities for new corporate investments—particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises—and providing direct support to household disposable income,” the NBRM noted in a press release Wednesday.
Within less than a year of accession, SEPA has become the leading channel for executing and receiving cross-border euro payments, available through every domestic bank. As of September 2026, SEPA transactions accounted for 69% of the total volume of cross-border euro transactions (both inflows and outflows). The share is nearly equal for both outbound (67%) and inbound (70%) cross-border transactions, indicating that citizens and companies are increasingly using SEPA to both send funds abroad and receive them from abroad.
The importance of the SEPA infrastructure is also confirmed by transaction value; as of September 2026, SEPA processed more than half of the total value of inbound cross-border euro transactions and over 70% of the value of outbound transactions.