Use of remote banking payments increased for the seventeenth year in a row during 2022. 

According to Bank of Albania statistics, last year the total number of remote banking operations reached 6.28 million. Compared to a year ago, Albanians increased the number of remote banking operations by 22.4% or 1.15 million operations more. 

Remote banking is banking transactions that are carried out via the Internet and applications on mobile phones. The increase in the use of remote banking services is still higher in monetary value. 

According to the Bank of Albania, for the year 2022 the total volume of transactions reached ALL 1.56 trillion, increasing by 29.7% compared to the previous year. 

The internet banking service is now offered by all commercial banks in Albania and the number of users of the service is registering rapid growth. 

At the end of 2022, the number of bank accounts connected to the Internet reached 878 thousand, an annual increase of 24%. It is estimated that already 28.2% of active bank accounts are accessible from the Internet, from 23.2% that was this indicator at the end of 2021. 

90% of the number of resident bank accounts connected to the Internet belong to individuals. Last year, individuals also saw the highest rate of growth in the number of accounts connected to the Internet, up 25%. In terms of businesses, the number of accounts connected to the Internet expanded by 16%. 

The use of payments through electronic channels has also been encouraged by the Bank of Albania, through regulatory measures. Since June 2020, all interbank transfers up to the value of 20,000 ALL that are carried out through electronic channels must be offered by banks without any commission. 

Meanwhile, for larger amounts, electronic transfers have commissions at least 50% cheaper compared to those carried out at bank counters. The same policy was followed in the regulation for national transfers in euros, where commissions for electronic transfers must be a maximum of 50% of commissions for payments made in bank branches. 

Also, the new law "On payment services" is expected to create spaces for the further growth of digital payments, encouraging more competition between financial payment institutions. From 2024, the concept of open banking is expected to become applicable. 

This will enable customers to perform payment services from their bank account through other financial institutions and not necessarily through the bank where they have the account. 

On this basis, any owner of a bank account can receive information on the balance of the account and initiate payments even from a financial institution other than the bank, licensed for these services. 

(Source: Monitor)