National Bank of Serbia cautions the public against unauthorized payment services

The National Bank of Serbia has announced that it has so far issued, in accordance with the Law on Payment Services, seven permits for providing payment services to business organizations which meet the demands prescribed.

The institutions in question are Tenfore, EKI Transfers, Diners Club International Belgrade, VIP Sistem, Ipay SEE, Payspot from Novi Sad and COA from Paracin.

On the other hand, the National Bank of Serbia has confirmed the existence of certain entities which are providing, without authorization, payment services to citizens (the possibility of paying utility service bills, phone bills etc.) and advertising such services publicly, and has fined those entities and forbidden them from providing such services.

The NBS has pointed out in the announcement that payment services in the Republic of Serbia, without having a special permit issued by the National Bank of Serbia, may be provided to citizens by banks and public postal operators only – directly or through their authorized representatives. All other entities, that is, payment institutions and electronic money institutions in accordance with the Law on Payment Services, may provide payment services to citizens only after gaining a permit by the National Bank of Serbia, following which such entities may also provide payment services directly or through their authorized representatives.

They are required to deliver or make available all necessary information on payment services to citizens, above all on the time period in which the transaction is to be carried out and the fees which will be charged, and to issue the appropriate certificate of received payment order, that is, the transaction that has been carried out, which is a guarantee that the rights of users of such services can't be violated.

The National Bank of Serbia invites the citizens to notify it about such cases by sending an e-mail to [email protected], or by sending a letter to the address Narodna banka Srbije – Uprava za nadzor nad finansijskim institucijama – Sektor za kontrolu poslovanja banaka (The National Bank of Serbia – Administration for Supervision of Financial Institutions – Bank Supervision Department).