As part of the exchange of information and expansion of knowledge about SEPA processes, organized by the CBCG on September 6, 2024. a presentation was held on the experiences of Croatia when it comes to this process. The presentation is organized as part of a study visit to Montenegro by a colleague from the Payments Department of the Croatian National Bank. CBCG took advantage of this opportunity and organized a presentation for Montenegrin commercial banks, where colleagues from the CNB shared their experiences in working with SEPA payment schemes and Croatia’s approach to this process in general. The process, requirements, technical details, XLM data exchange were pointed out, which is one of the more demanding elements of the process, starting with the change in the format of payment orders – now we need to switch to XLM message formats, plus all other technical requirements. Banks have a lot of work to do internally in order to be able to apply for SEPA payment schemes
On the other hand, the CBCG, as the owner and manager of payment systems, needs to prepare those systems for SEPA, and this is primarily about interoperability with SEPA payment systems countries, but also on other technical aspects of payment systems in order to be able to implement SEPA schemes. Access to SEPA is not mandatory, mandatory for banks, but it is certainly a market advantage for banks that access and offer this type of payment to their clients, which will be significantly cheaper than existing channels payments.
