Electronic payments are preferred over cash, but for each amount paid by consumers with a bank card in stores, up to 3 percent of that amount is withheld from businesses by commercial banks, KosovaPress reports.

Businesses have repeatedly requested the removal of fees for these POS services, but this request is not being met by the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK). Businesses, especially those that offer bank card services, consider this cost a major burden for them.

The Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) says that fees for electronic payment acceptance services are necessary to cover the costs of equipment, maintenance, and other processes related to payments. 

According to the CBK, fees are determined by European Union rules and are capped at 0.2 percent for debit cards and 0.3 percent for credit cards.

The request for the removal of this fee has also been made by the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). The President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Skënder Krasniqi, says that this fee has a direct impact on increasing the cost of products and services, thus causing, according to him, an increase in informality, forcing businesses to avoid electronic payments in favor of cash transactions. 

If a business has bank card payments of up to 10 thousand euros, it can lose up to 300 euros just from fees for these transactions, according to Krasniqi.

Meanwhile, the general manager of the company "Elkos", Arsim Selmonmusaj, states that this fee for electronic payments is an additional burden for businesses, increasing the costs of each product, according to him.

Meanwhile, Krasniqi continues to insist that the responsible institutions must take this issue seriously and, as he emphasizes, remove this fee that is a burden on businesses.

In a written response from the CBK, they say that electronic payment acceptance services, including the POS service for card acceptance, have certain costs. In this regard, it is stated that the CBK has limited by regulation the interchange fees that the bank providing the electronic payment acceptance service (in the case of POS, the bank/FI providing the POS) owes to the card-issuing bank/FI, to 0.2 percent for debit cards and 0.3 percent for credit cards, in accordance with European Union (EU) rules.

While it is emphasized that in electronic payment instruments there is room for optimization of processes and even greater competition, for which the CBK is already working through the advancement of the legal and regulatory framework, as well as through projects for the adaptation of systems.

Commercial banks in Kosovo continue to increase their profits year after year. This financial sector in the country has achieved high profits during 2024.

According to the latest report of the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) for 2024, from bank loans and other services to citizens and businesses, commercial banks had a net profit of 182.1 million euros, or about 27 million euros more than in 2023. In 2023, banks' profit was 155 million euros.