Direct payment transactions between Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, reestablished in December 2023 after a 16-year hiatus, have had very limited effects, according to officials from the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG). The total value of transactions between Montenegro and Serbia amounts to around 45.4 million EUR, and with Bosnia and Herzegovina, it stands at about 14 million EUR. From the CBCG’s perspective, the infrastructure requirements have been fully met, and the project is technically complete. However, the development and extent of usage of this channel entirely depend on market needs and the decisions of individual banks.
From the establishment of the direct payment channel between Montenegro and Serbia in December 2023 to February 28, 2025, a total of 1,399 payments were completed, valued at 35.5 million EUR, along with 141 payments totaling 9.9 million EUR.
During 2024, a total of 1,166 payments were made to Serbia, amounting to 23.2 million EUR, and 126 payments were made from Serbia, amounting to 8.3 million EUR, said Jelena Janković, Director of the Financial and Banking Operations Sector at the Central Bank of Montenegro, in an interview with the Bankar portal.
For Bosnia and Herzegovina in the same period, 52 payments were made totaling 0.5 million EUR, and 15 payments from Bosnia and Herzegovina were made amounting to 4 million EUR.
From December 11, 2023, to February 28, 2025, a total of 69 payments were made worth 0.5 million EUR, and 22 payments totaling 13.4 million EUR were received, Janković added.
The Central Bank of Montenegro charges a fee of 1.50 EUR per transaction for outgoing payment transactions as part of the international payment clearing system, which is conducted according to agreements. Universal Capital Bank (UCB), the sole participant in this system from Montenegro, also charges fees in line with its tariff policy, which can be found on their website. Janković emphasized that the primary goal of establishing this international payment clearing system was to facilitate more efficient and cheaper transactions between the participating countries—Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, given the volume of transactions so far, it can be concluded that this payment system has had very limited effects, Janković noted.
Currently, aside from UCB, there is little interest from other banks in participating in the international clearing system between Montenegro and Serbia, as well as with Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the Central Bank of Montenegro.
The CBCG’s role is to systematically enable and support the infrastructure for the efficient functioning of the payment system, which was accomplished in 2007 with the establishment of the direct payment channel, further enhanced in 2023 with the inclusion of one bank from Montenegro, Janković explained.
From the CBCG’s perspective, all infrastructure requirements have been fully met, and the project is technically complete. The further development and usage of this channel depend entirely on market needs and the decisions of individual banks. The potential of this system can only be realized as much as banks recognize and use it in line with their business strategy and client interests, concluded Janković.
To recall, the direct payment system between Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina was reestablished in December 2023 after 16 years, through Universal Capital Bank (UCB), the only bank that showed interest in entering the payment clearing system and directly facilitating transactions between the three countries.
In September 2007, the central banks of Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a special agreement on international payment clearing, which was supposed to make payment services cheaper. However, while the direct payment system was operational between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2007, Montenegro did not participate in the system due to a lack of interest from commercial banks in Montenegro to join the payment system.
