Payment system now operating on weekends and holidays

20/10/2025

Starting today, the operating hours of the domestic payment system are extended to include weekends and holidays.

This change will enable citizens and businesses to execute financial transactions on Saturdays, Sundays, as well as during public and other holidays, with cut-off times at 2:30 PM for amounts up to 1,000 euros and at 3:00 PM for amounts exceeding 1,000 euros.

By introducing weekend and holiday operations, the domestic payment system will be active for additional 118 days per year, ensuring uninterrupted processing of payment transactions throughout the entire year. This means that funds will no longer remain pending until Monday, with transfers between accounts being executed during weekends and holidays, thereby reducing the average transaction time in Montenegro by approximately 0.43 days, or 10 hours and 20 minutes.

Thanks to faster money flow between banks and the economy, it is estimated that around 32 million euros of capital currently held up in the system due to settlement delays will be freed annually. This capital will be available to banks and businesses for other purposes such as investments, lending, and day-to-day operations.

At the same time, companies and private individuals will no longer need to use short-term loans or overdrafts to bridge cash flow gaps during non-working days. This reduces financing costs and interest on such short-term borrowings, resulting in savings of approximately 1.6 million euros per year for businesses and citizens. This effect stems from improved cash flow management and real-time availability of liquid funds.

We remind that as of 18 August 2025, the domestic payment system’s working hours on weekdays were extended until 7:30 PM for transactions up to 1,000 euros, and until 8:00 PM for transactions above 1,000 euros, with a total of six clearing cycles per day.

Extending the domestic payment system’s operating hours to weekends and holidays represents another important step in modernizing the national payment infrastructure and preparing for the introduction of instant payments through the TIPS Clone project, which the Central Bank of Montenegro is implementing in cooperation with Banca d’Italia and the World Bank. The TIPS Clone system implementation is expected in July 2026, enabling citizens and businesses in Montenegro to make real-time payments 24 hours a day, seven days a week, throughout the year (24/7/365).

With these activities, the Central Bank of Montenegro reaffirms its strong commitment to developing a modern, efficient, and inclusive payment system which, together with Montenegro’s membership in the SEPA zone, enables faster, cheaper, safer, and more accessible money flows in line with the highest European standards and practices.