Montenegro has been a member of SEPA since 7 October 2025, the single euro payments area, in which citizens, legal entities, and public institutions can execute cashless payment transactions in euros.
The benefits of the SEPA payment system were felt from the first day at Nelt MNE Company, which is primarily engaged in the import and distribution of fast-moving consumer goods. They say that SEPA for them means recognition and joining the developed countries of Europe in the field of payments, greater security, and faster execution of payment transactions.
The Chief Financial Officer of Nelt Montenegro, Maja Sekulić, says that the majority of the company’s transactions relate precisely to payments abroad, and that thanks to the SEPA system, next year they will save even a third of the money they spend on payment transactions.
“Considering that Nelt MNE is a company engaged in logistics, import, and distribution of fast-moving consumer goods, a significant number of our transactions are reflected in payments abroad. Analyzing payment transactions for the first ten months of 2025, we had about 55 million EUR outflows abroad, of which even 75% of these outflows belong to countries that have already implemented the SEPA system. This for us means a significant improvement in payment transaction costs, so when preparing the budget for 2026, we projected optimization of payment transaction costs in this segment alone by about 30%,” emphasizes Sekulić.
Besides the benefits in terms of payment transaction costs, Nelt recognizes numerous other advantages of the SEPA system, which are also reflected in improving financial processes, increasing efficiency, and consequently, the level of satisfaction of their foreign partners.
Sekulić highlighted the importance of cooperation with colleagues from the Central Bank of Montenegro and commercial banks, with whom they held meetings and received more precise information on the future method of executing payment transactions.
“The effort and dedication invested were noticeable in the first days of SEPA transactions, considering that NELT MNE had not experienced a single interruption in executing transactions abroad,” says Sekulić.
She expects that Montenegro’s EU membership will open many doors for domestic business.
“We see joining the European Union as potential for further growth and development of our business, especially through a significantly larger market, through a potentially larger number of customers, through the possibility of accessing European Union funds and subsidies, so that we can use cheaper sources of financing for our future investments, as well as further optimization of business costs, especially in the customs domain,” concludes Sekulić, noting that our task is to take advantage of these opportunities and ensure further improvement of operations, with the goal of achieving the maximum benefits that EU accession enables.
The functioning of the SEPA system in Montenegro represents one of the key benefits of the negotiation process and the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, in terms of strengthening economic integration with the EU single market. Specifically, membership in the SEPA system is the result of reforms under Chapter 4, Free Movement of Capital.