07.03.2018.

NBS reiterates possibility of easier testing of innovative ideas in payment services

Bearing in mind the NBS’s continued commitment to enabling new ideas and innovative solutions that would yield modern and quality payment services, tailored to the everyday needs of citizens and corporates, the NBS wishes to reiterate that the Law on Payment Services (in force since October 2015) is an adequate legal basis for the introduction and use of the listed payment services, as well as for testing modern and innovative payment services whose introduction is being contemplated.

Therefore, we would like to underline that within the so-called limited network exception (envisaged in the Law on Payment Services), in controlled conditions, any interested corporates (e.g. start-ups) and entrepreneurs could test certain innovative payment models whose introduction is being contemplated. To do so, they are not obligated to obtain a prior approval of the NBS for payment services provision; however, they have to obtain the NBS’s opinion and to enable access for the NBS to the testing conducted in such manner. In this manner, the initial testing stage of a certain business model (when the applicability and cost-effectiveness of the model cannot be fully estimated) can be carried out without having to conduct the entire and comprehensive process of submitting a request for licencing payment services and obtaining an assessment of the request and, consequently, without incurring all the costs associated with such procedure.

We hereby invite companies and citizens to approach the NBS if they have any doubts regarding the possibility to test and develop such models by sending an email to kabinetguvernera@nbs.rs.

Governor's Office