Prime Minister Edi Rama today held an expanded meeting with managers of the country’s banking sector, calling on them to join the common effort in a bid to transform banking services offered to citizens at all commercial banks operating in Albania. The Premier announced that a joint working team between the government and the Bank of Albania has been set up to deliver on this aspect.

Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at the meeting:

A most recent report issued by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) ranked Albania first in the region and the 17th out of a long list of countries where EBRD operates, a very significant position, frankly speaking, as the outcome of an incredibly voluminous and intense work we have done and delivered on over the years in a bid to transform our entire governing system through digitalization and transform public services themselves through digitalization.

As you already know, all the public services are now delivered online since May 1 and front offices at public administration institutions are no longer operational, since all the document services and public services, a total of 1225 of them, are provided via the online platform. Everyone can now apply for these services online and the reply and required documents are also provided online bearing e-stamp and e-signature.

Only five percent of the public services remain to be delivered in person as physical presence of the applicant is a must. This is also the case for the technical inspection of the vehicles as the technology has yet to provide solutions to deliver such services online.

In the meantime, unfortunately, Albania has fared poorly in IComers index and we rank bottom in the region and the rest of Europe when it comes to banking services.

We are also performing poorly in terms of the online banking services.

With the e-Albania platform providing and delivering services quickly despite the growing number of citizens accessing and the rising number of applications filed with the platform, it is normal both for the citizens and businesses to increasingly complain about banking services you provide.  

And there is no point in forcing a citizen to knock on the bank’s door to pay for a public service if he is a credit or debit card holder, but instead they can make the payment online just like everyone does by accession the e-Albania platform and the applicant receives real-time confirmation for the payment. This is fully doable technically and this is a transformation that is no longer up for discussion, but it is time to deliver on it.

It is really shocking to see the current panorama of the banks’ technology. It is shocking.

The e-Albania platform has saved time and money for the citizens and the country’s economy. The online delivery of the public services has saved around 7.1 million euros for citizens after elimination of the taxes and tariffs for the service and documents.

It’s time for you to consider cutting the number of countless documents, procedures and stuff in exchange for simple services. It is time to reduce the wait time for applicants so that you can issue a bank loan.

This is all I had to say. I am sorry I can’t laud banks, but on the contrary I have to criticize them regarding the use of technology, but on the other hand our banking system deserves respect as it ensures stability, ensures the citizens’ savings, and ensures high-level services.

I would like to assure you that the National Agency of Information Society will be totally available and you should use the Agency without hesitating to deliver on this goal. On top of that, it is you who benefit, as you would benefit from expertise for free.

We need to rapidly continue the systemic transformation and make the most of technology because technology is the blessing of countries like ours, which in other circumstances, would have had, I do not know how many decades, to do what they can now do in 2, 3, 4 years thanks to technology.