PRESS RELEASE
Open banking: Bank of Albania grants the licence to the first financial entity

Open Banking is an innovation in modern banking practices enabling citizens to access their account data and initiate payments through banks and other financial institutions via third-party service providers. Open banking, unlike traditional banking - where only the customer and the bank have access to financial data, - empowers customers to securely share this data with another service provider to augment their benefits originating from innovative financial experiences. This means that customers can conduct payment transactions from their bank accounts through other financial institutions as well, not just through the bank where they have the account.

The implementation of the revised European Payment Services Directive, known as PSD2, turned open banking in a reality in 2018–2019. The Bank of Albania immediately embraced this revolutionary transformation, becoming a pioneer in the region in this regard, thanks to its vision for modernizing payment systems in Albania and for aligning with the European standards. Following an intensive work on compilation, this innovative concept was introduced to the Albanian payments market through the Law 55/2020 “On Payment Services”. This law introduces the notion of Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) and Account Information Service Providers (AISPs), also known as Third-Party Providers (TPP), as key parties in open banking.

Next, the Regulation 29/2022 “On strong customer authentication and common, open and secure standards of communication,” which lays down the technical standards for secure and open communication among participants in payment services, complemented the regulatory framework.

The legal and regulatory framework paved the way for implementing open banking in Albania.  Meanwhile, market actors took measures in place to operationalize and make this concept functional in practice. To this end, banks, over the past years, have adapted their IT systems and obtained qualified electronic seal certificates to establish secure communication with third-party providers.

Also, with a view to ensure the integration and complete operation of services, pursuant to the European standards on security, an intensive collaboration has taken place with and a continuous significant contribution has been provided by the Albanian government and national authorities, such as the National Agency of Information Society (NAIS) and the National Payment System Committee (NPSC), in turn completing all the required tests in this regard.

Recently, following the completion of legal, regulatory, and licensing requirements, the Bank of Albania granted the first open banking license to the electronic money institution Easypay sh.p.k.  This license marks the beginning of p these services in the Albanian market.

It is worth noting that at the core of this initiative is the citizen, providing more choices to carry out simplified, faster, and lower-cost payments and transfers. Therefore, the Bank of Albania encourages applications from financial institutions to obtain open banking licenses, aiming to create greater added value for Albanian citizens in their daily financial activities.  It is important to highlight that the operationalization of open banking is the first and crucial step towards open finance, which will enable the digitization of lending, investments, and other financial services for clients.

In addition to individual consumer benefits - in the broader context - this innovation provides significant advantages on the path to formalizing the economy and financial inclusion. The Bank of Albania will always remain a promoter of advanced initiatives and for bolstering the innovation in time with a view to enhancing the welfare of Albanian society.