The year 2025 marked a historic turning point for Albania’s financial ecosystem, with the official launch of Open Banking and concrete progress toward integration into the SEPA zone two processes that are fundamentally reshaping how payments are executed and how financial actors collaborate in the country.
This has also been an exceptionally successful year for EasyPay, both in terms of innovation and service expansion, further strengthening our role as a leader in the modernization of Albania’s payments market.
1. What are the key factors that have positioned EasyPay as a leader in electronic payments over the past 15 years, at a time when consumer trust in financial technologies was relatively low?
Over the past 15 years, EasyPay has built and sustained a strong leadership position in Albania’s electronic payments market through a combination of critical factors that addressed both market needs and the initial lack of trust in financial technologies.
First and foremost, we made significant investments in financial education for both the market and citizens, clearly communicating the benefits, security, and ease of use of fintech services. This effort was decisive in an environment where the culture of electronic payments was still at an early stage.
Equally important has been our unwavering commitment to service quality, eliminating delays, errors, and any experience that could undermine user trust. In the Albanian market where money management is extremely sensitive a disappointed customer is often lost forever. For this reason, operational accuracy has been embedded at the core of every process we run.
Another key pillar has been continuous innovation. From day one, we introduced real-time payments in a market where batch payments with multi-day delays were the norm. In 2014, we launched Albania’s first electronic wallet; in 2020, at a critical moment during the COVID-19 pandemic, we enabled instant peer-to-peer payments; and most recently, with Open Banking, we executed the first transaction of its kind not only in Albania but also in the region an important step toward modernizing payment infrastructure.
Our vision has also been firmly rooted in financial inclusion. We offer a wide range of payment channels tailored to all segments of the population: e-wallet payments, cards, cash services through more than 560 agent locations, and now Open Banking.
Above all, EasyPay’s success is driven by our team a group of persistent, visionary professionals deeply committed to the mission of democratizing financial services and making them accessible to every layer of society.
2. What are EasyPay’s main priorities and projects for the coming years, particularly following Open Banking licensing and the development of new digital services?
Being licensed as Albania’s first Open Banking actor and executing the first transactions this year represents a historic milestone for both the country and our corporate strategy. This achievement follows two years of intensive work to build a fully standardized infrastructure integrated with all second-tier banks.
Open Banking will have a transformative impact on the Albanian market, enabling pay-by-bank payments across all aspects of consumer life from e-commerce to QR-based in-store payments. The advantages are clear: real-time transactions, lower costs for businesses, and a modern user experience that is increasingly demanded by merchants and consumers alike.
In parallel, this year we significantly expanded our product portfolio, including:
- Tax and fee payments, in partnership with ABI Bank (an AmCham member);
- New collaborations with commercial banks to support the lending ecosystem;
- The introduction of eSIM services in the Albanian market as a main distributor;
- Additional services that reinforce our role as a comprehensive digital platform.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, a key priority remains enhancing interoperability between fintech companies and banks, including fintech access to the Bank of Albania’s clearing house as part of the implementation of the instant payments system (TIPS clone).
We also advocate for the creation of an integrated government API for e-Albania services, enabling these services to be delivered to citizens through all our channels.
Another strategic direction is the expansion of international payments not only within the SEPA zone, where we are currently implementing our services, but also into other markets through partnerships with global cross-border payment infrastructure providers.
In an economy like ours, which is globalizing rapidly largely driven by tourism our objective is for both domestic and international payments to be executed in real time or near real time.
In summary, our long-term vision is to consolidate the Super App model, where users can perform every payment and financial service within a single platform without delays, disruptions, or complexity.
3. What impact has the partnership with the American company Ria Money Transfer had on service expansion and on strengthening financial ties between Albania and the United States?
Our partnership with Ria Money Transfer has been one of EasyPay’s most successful strategic collaborations, which is why for the ninth consecutive year we continue to record strong and positive growth in the remittances sector.
This success is not coincidental; it is the result of Ria’s strong commitment to the Albanian market combined with our efforts to deliver fast, secure, and cost-efficient services to the Albanian diaspora, supported by more than 560 service points across Albania.
Through Ria and EasyPay, the Albanian diaspora and local citizens can send and receive transfers from over 190 countries, including the United States, benefiting from the fastest processing times and the most competitive pricing in the market.
Remittances remain a critically important socio-economic sector. According to the World Bank, they accounted for approximately 8.5% of Albania’s GDP in 2024, directly impacting the well-being of thousands of families.
Thanks to this partnership, EasyPay has not only significantly expanded its service offering but has also contributed to strengthening economic and financial ties between the Albanian diaspora in the United States and Albania, creating more efficient and affordable channels for transferring funds back home.