Vice Governor Vidaković at DDays Conference on Banking Sector Digitalisation Challenges

Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH), Marko Vidaković, M.Sc. participated in DDays Conference "Current changes in the business operations of the financial sector -greener, more digital, more responsible!", which was held in Banjaluka.

The focus of the conference was on the issues forming the future of the banking sector in BH, and within the panel „Baby boomers do not give up - banking sector digitalisation challenges!“, Vice Governor Vidaković stressed the activities undertaken by the CBBH in coordination with the competent institutions: the Banking Agency of Republika Srpska, the Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Entity Ministries of Finance, with purpose of joining the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which can significantly impact increase of digital payments and decrease of use of informal payment channels.

"SEPA arrangement currently includes 36 countries, and more than 80% of import-export transactions of Bosnia and Herzegovina are realised with these countries, which creates a possibility for transaction savings both for economy and households. According to the World Bank estimates, the Western Balkans countries which are not SEPA members pay fees for cross-border payments which are higher up to six times compared to the countries within the SEPA. The SEPA includes more than 510 million users, including over 8,000 different financial institutions and 25 million business entities, enabling the realisation of around 90 billion electronic transactions per year. These changes are a step towards harmonisation with the EU regulation, which additionally opens the door for positive changes in attracting foreign investments and stimulating domestic capital market, with a significant contribution to economic development and closer integration with the European market", said Vice Governor Vidaković.

Vice Governor Vidaković pointed out that, speaking of the banking sector digitalisation, the data giving us a motive and obligation to further stimulate digital forms of payment changing the users' awareness, are that, out of the total number of all card transactions in BH, even 2/3 of them are cash withdrawals from ATMs while at the same time, 2/3 of entities with contracted services of electronic, i.e. mobile banking have not realised a single electronic transaction in a year.

In the area of promoting the use of digital forms of payments, the Central Bank of BH, in cooperation with the World Bank, has prepared "Digital Payments Guide".