In Serbia, in the last five years, the number of customers via the Internet has increased fivefold, and now there are 2,5 million of them. The number of sites where purchases can be made has increased more than eight times, and today we have an average of one payment card per capita. The trend of growth in the number of cashless transactions was further accelerated by the pandemic, but with only 110.000 POS terminals, Serbia still has 2,2 times less points of sale compared to the EU where you can shop even if you don't have cash. The answer is the National Cashless Payment Initiative. On this occasion, we spoke with the leader of GIZ in Serbia, Zlatko Milikić, who explains to Vreme what the initiative means and what benefits we get from a cashless society.
What does the National Initiative for Cashless Payment bring??
The aim of the project is to support greater financial inclusion of citizens and the economy, i.e. their inclusion in financial flows, reduction of the gray economy and faster economic development of Serbia by encouraging greater use of non-cash payments. In order to increase the acceptance infrastructure, we plan to equip 25.000 points of sale throughout Serbia to accept cashless payments, and we expect that there will be more. The backbone of the project is the Support Program for the introduction of cashless payments (POS program) intended for small merchants and institutions that have not yet accepted card or instant payments. The program includes free POS for one year and a subsidized trading fee.
The national initiative for cashless payments is a joint project of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the companies Mastercard and VISA, which is implemented under the auspices of the develoPPP program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with NALED and the Ministry of Finance Republic of Serbia.
An agreement on cooperation on the implementation of the initiative was signed with the Ministry of Finance, so that all businessmen who apply for state subsidies for the introduction of new fiscal cash registers will be able to apply for an additional subsidy of the POS program in order to purchase a new all-in-one device, a classic POS terminal , softPOS or e-commerce solution and thus immediately started accepting cashless payments.
What is the contribution of GIZ?-and this project?
Through the develoPPP program, GIZ connects the public and private sectors in the implementation of projects of importance for the entire community, and the development of a cashless society is a very useful goal. That is why special attention will be paid to the inclusion of sensitive categories of citizens in the cashless society through compliance with the principle "No one is left out", so that all segments of our community feel the benefits of modern payment methods.
What does the development of cashless payments and a cashless society mean for us?
The advantages of cashless payments over cash are multiple. For citizens, this means up to three times shorter shopping, a larger selection of stores, the possibility of buying products from abroad, purchasing in installments, and above all, personal protection both against theft and loss of money, as well as preserving health in pandemic conditions, as they reduce the number of physical contacts with sellers. . The safety factor and reduction of crime is important for traders as well as for the state. Businessmen can increase the number of customers, increase their satisfaction and create new products, as well as open up new markets for themselves, while the development of a cashless society helps the state to reduce the gray economy, improve supervision over financial flows and tax payments, and above all, faster economic development through increasing business activities.
The project supports the development of all types of cashless payments, from instant payments, cards, through mobile wallets and other new generation payments, in order to offer citizens greater freedom of choice on how to shop.
Are there similar international experiences and what are their results??
The national initiative was inspired by a similar program in Poland, where 430.000 new POS terminals were introduced in more than three years, or almost 40% of the existing 1,1 million. 303.000 merchants received terminals in that country through the project, so the number of those accepting cashless payments has now increased to more than 490.000, and 301.000 jobs have been created.
