The National Bank of Serbia revoked Alta Bank AD Belgrade’s licence on 30 October, citing a risk of further deterioration in the bank’s financial position and threats to depositors’ interests. The decision triggered insolvency proceedings and consequences for customers in North Macedonia and users of payment services provided by a related company in Montenegro.
Following the licence withdrawal, management of Alta Bank was taken over by the Deposit Insurance Agency, which organises payments of insured deposits. The statutory guarantee is up to 50,000 euros per depositor; the available information does not establish that payouts have begun.
Alta Bank AD Belgrade owns 95.1754% of the ordinary shares in Alta Bank AD Bitola. After the Serbian regulator’s decision, the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia placed the Bitola bank under temporary administration and restricted customers’ access to funds.
Temporary administration means that people appointed by the central bank take control of a bank’s operations. The measure is intended to protect the bank’s assets and depositors’ interests. Customers of Alta Bank AD Bitola can withdraw a maximum of 10,000 denars a week, equivalent to about 160 euros.
North Macedonian central bank Governor Trajko Slaveski explained the measures after customers withdrew around two million euros over a short period, either in cash or through bank transfers. Alta Bank AD Bitola reported a net loss of 48.64 million denars, or approximately 790,000 euros, in the first nine months of 2026, compared with a profit of 49.15 million denars, or about 799,000 euros, in the same period of the previous year.
Tihomir, a customer of Alta Bank AD Bitola for two and a half years, held private and business accounts, deposits and credit arrangements there. His accounts have been blocked since Friday, leaving him without access to funds belonging to him and his company.
“All my funds are blocked, both the company’s and my personal funds. So I have been left without money,” Tihomir said. He has payments, invoices to settle, supplier obligations and business expenses, but said he could not meet them while the funds remained inaccessible.
Opening an account at another bank was a possible alternative, he said, but would not provide access to the money held at Alta Bank AD Bitola. “I hope the state will pay out the money as soon as possible,” he said.
Companies and payment users affected
The disruption also reached Serbian companies that had accounts at Alta Bank. Novosadska Informatika, which collects residential and utility-service payments, told users that its account at the bank was no longer active and instructed them to make payments to a new account from 31 October 2026.
Elektroprivreda Srbije and the Belgrade Public Utility Company Parking Service issued similar notices about changes to their accounts. The National Bank of Serbia’s business-account register also lists Telekom Srbija, Belgrade Water and Sewerage, Srbijagas and Naftna industrija Srbije as companies with accounts at Alta Bank.
The existence of an account does not show how much money a company held there or whether it had other financial arrangements with the bank. The register therefore does not establish the scale of any company’s exposure to the bank’s closure.
In Montenegro, the Central Bank of Montenegro withdrew Alta Pay Group DOO Podgorica’s authorisation to provide payment services on 1 November, one day after the Serbian regulator’s decision. Alta Pay Group provided payment services, including money transfers, but did not operate as a conventional bank.
The Central Bank of Montenegro said Alta Pay Group was not a bank and did not accept deposits from individuals or businesses. It assessed that the company’s operations did not pose a risk to the stability of Montenegro’s financial system and said it had taken steps within its authority to support the orderly fulfilment of the payment institution’s obligations and protect users’ interests.
It was not known how many individuals and companies had used Alta Pay Group, whether any transactions remained uncompleted or whether all users had been able to access their money. The available information did not establish the status of individual payments.
Owner detained as prosecutors investigate
In Serbia, Dejan Gavrilović, a representative of the consumer association Efektiva, said people most often contacted the group to ask how they could access their money. He estimated that Alta Bank accounted for “a little less than three percent” of Serbia’s banking market. Gavrilović said some public interest was also linked to political and business connections associated with the bank.
Owner Davor Macura was detained on 2 November on the order of Serbia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime. The bank’s director of treasury and cash management and an associate in treasury operations were detained alongside him.
The prosecutor’s office suspects Macura exceeded his authority and removed money from the bank’s treasury without authorisation, with the help of employees who enabled him to enter the room where cash was kept. Macura and the two employees were ordered held for up to 48 hours and were due to be questioned by the competent prosecutor’s office.
Macura is one of four Serbian businesspeople for whom a request had been made to impose U.S. sanctions. Alta Bank’s licence was revoked several days after Serbia’s early parliamentary elections, in which the Serbian Progressive Party was defeated.
