Angelovska Bezhoska: Fintech will bring greater competition, new and cheaper financial services

Skopje, 8 January 2022

The development of the fintech will contribute to increasing competition, which in turn will lead to greater and easier access of citizens to new types of financial services but also to cheaper financial services. The National Bank is taking several activities for creating an environment for developing the fintech, including development of a platform for cooperation with the innovative business community - Innovation Gateway, the first national fintech strategy and relevant regulatory framework, says in a statement for the MTV, the Governor of the National Bank, Anita Angelovska Bezhoska.

"As a central bank we are undertaking several types of activities. Several years ago, we opened the Innovation Gateway, a platform for communication between the National Bank, the innovative business community and other related regulatory authorities. The aims is all companies that intend to introduce some new types of financial products on the domestic market, to be able to access in a simple way and to obtain all the necessary information in the part of the regulation. This communication channel is not useful only for the companies but also for us, as a central bank, because it allows us to follow the latest trends in the financial industry, to note regulatory barriers and obstacles for encouraging innovations and to initiate appropriate legal changes", says the Governor.

Angelovska Bezhoska says that in companies there is a great interest in the fintech segment. According to the survey conducted by the National Bank between banks and financial institutions, as well as other regulatory bodies, around 90% of the respondents are aware of the numerous benefits borne by digitalization in finances, while around 70% of the institutions are already investing in digitalization and in change of the manner in which financial services function.

According to the respondents, the main obstacles for the faster development of the fintech include the small market and the regulatory framework. In the part of the regulatory framework, three segments are indicated, which are the regulation in the part of personal data protection, the regulation for anti-money laundering and the regulation that regulates the payment system and the payment services.

"The payment system regulation will be addressed by the new Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems, which is already in its final stage and we expect that it will soon be adopted. We have already started to work on a national fintech strategy. This project is supported by the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), and we are also working together with the other financial regulators. We expect that in the first half of this year the first national strategy will be adopted, which will clearly identify the areas and will cover measures and activities aimed at supporting financial innovations, which is ultimately beneficial for all citizens", says the Governor of the National Bank.