On January 30, 2024, the President of the National Bank of Moldova, Anka Dragu signed an application for the accession of Moldova to the Single Euro Payments Zone (SEPA)
What is SEPA?
SEPA is an initiative of the European banking industry launched in 2008 with the support of the European Commission and the European Central Bank. Currently, the SEPA zone includes 36 European countries, including several states that are not part of the euro zone or the European Union.
Moldova is already a candidate country in the EU (since June 2022) and is preparing to start negotiations on joining the EU (after the European Council decided on this in December 2023).
Advantages of joining SEPA
With the help of this payment system, it is possible to make a payment within 24 hours instead of paying 20–30 euros per transaction, we could pay only 1, 2 or 3 euros, which is a huge step for everyone who participates in the economic system.
Joining SEPA will facilitate efficient and safe processing of cross-border payments in euros, which will improve commercial and financial relations with European partners.
Connection stages
European Payments Council from Bruxxels (EPC) is the organization that will decide on the accession of the Republic of Moldova to SEPA. After signing the application by the chairman of the central bank, two stages follow: file evaluation and actual connection to the system.
