The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography are launching a joint project to enable social welfare beneficiaries to receive money directly into a free bank account. The idea is to pay social assistance through banks quickly, securely and without commissions, so that citizens retain the full value of their income and have easier access to basic banking services.
Now this money is paid through the Post Office and it is free for end users and they receive the full amount, but they complain that they waste a lot of time waiting in lines at post offices, if it happens that the postmen do not find them at home to deliver their receipts.
The project is aligned with the Law on the Comparability of Fees Related to Consumer Payment Accounts, which has been in force since January 2024, and stipulates that beneficiaries of social benefits have the right to open, maintain and close accounts free of charge, as well as free basic transactions. According to this law, systemic banks are obliged to open and maintain a payment account with basic services for vulnerable categories.
Phased implementation
According to estimates, the project concerns around 100.000 social assistance beneficiaries, including recipients of child allowance, personal disability allowance, care and assistance allowance, unemployment benefits and material security..., while only around 1.480 of them currently have an account open. Most of these beneficiaries receive money through the Post Office, and if they wish, they will be able to open free accounts. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography and the Central Bank of Montenegro announce that the project will be implemented in phases from the beginning of 2026.
"Beneficiaries who will be included in the new method of payment of compensation are beneficiaries of personal disability benefits, and later this option will also be available to beneficiaries of universal child allowance," the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography told "Vijesti".
A joint project, as the vice governor told "Vijesti" Zorica Kalezić, planned for the beginning of 2026 and will be implemented in phases, with the aim of covering all vulnerable categories of the population by the end of the campaign.
"It is planned that the entire year 2026 will be dedicated to financial inclusion and preserving the full value of social benefits, which represents a continuation of the CBCG's reform activities in the area of payment transactions," said Kalezić.
She explained that the aim of the project is to ensure that social benefits, universal child allowance, personal disability allowance, care and assistance allowance, unemployment benefit and material security, are paid to end users without indirect costs, in a secure and simple payment environment, through the wider use of payment accounts with basic services, as provided for in the Law on the Comparability of Fees Associated with Consumer Payment Accounts.
"The joint project was agreed upon at the governor's meeting Irene Radović and the minister Damir Gutić with teams. On that occasion, it was also agreed to establish a joint working group that will work in a coordinated manner to raise public awareness, empower citizens and ensure that the benefits prescribed by law become fully accessible. The main goal of the project is to increase financial inclusion, preserve the value of social transfers and protect the most vulnerable groups of the population. The project aims to further strengthen the awareness of beneficiaries of social and material benefits about the rights provided to them by the Law on the Comparability of Fees Related to Consumer Payment Accounts, which has been in force since January 2024 and which provides them with easier and more favorable access to banking services," said Kalezić.
She explained that beneficiaries of social benefits belong to a vulnerable group of consumers and, in accordance with the law, are entitled to a number of benefits that facilitate access to banking services.
"This includes free account opening, management and closing, free cash deposits and withdrawals at the counter and ATM, as well as the first ten national payment transactions per month free of charge. For all other transactions, the fee can be up to 70% of the price that the bank charges other account users with basic services. In this way, social assistance beneficiaries are provided with safe and simple access to money, without additional costs and commissions, which also encourages greater financial inclusion," Kalezić explained.
Below the European average
"Vijesti" asked what specific measures they plan to take to motivate and persuade as many social assistance beneficiaries as possible to open an account, because according to data from the Central Bank of Montenegro, there are around 100.000 social assistance beneficiaries, while only around 1.480 of them have open accounts.
“Based on the view that having a bank account is an absolute right of every citizen, the Central Bank of Montenegro and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography are working on the aforementioned joint project in order to contribute to increasing the number of accounts opened by social assistance beneficiaries. According to World Bank data (Global Findex), around 75% of Montenegrin citizens have a bank account, while the European Union average is 95%. This difference indicates that the largest number of those outside the formal financial system belong to vulnerable groups, including beneficiaries of social benefits. The measures that the Central Bank of Montenegro and the Ministry of Social Welfare will jointly undertake are primarily aimed at educating and informing vulnerable categories through promotional campaigns to raise awareness that the right to a payment account with basic services is guaranteed by law and available free of charge, organizing educational activities in the community, in cooperation with local social work centers, local communities and banks, in order to practically show beneficiaries how the account works and how they can safely dispose of their income, and empowering beneficiaries to use banking services without fear by informing them that social benefits are paid without "There are no fees and no commissions for basic services, and the funds are fully available to the user," Kalezić explained.
The goal of the Central Bank of Montenegro is, in this way, to contribute to increasing the number of account users and gradually reducing the difference compared to the European Union average, while the ministry, as Kalezić states, wants to contribute to protecting the value of social benefits.
"Therefore, the common key message of the project is that by using the basic services account, social benefits will not be reduced by commissions and fees, and that beneficiaries receive the full value of the funds paid to them by the state, without additional costs. In this way, the project is not just a technical undertaking, but a social measure that protects the most vulnerable and provides them with equal rights as all other citizens, while preserving the full value of their income," said Kelezić.
Users choose – mail or account
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography told "Vijesti" that they have decided to cooperate with the Central Bank of Montenegro in order to enable certain beneficiaries of material benefits in the field of social and child protection to receive benefits via bank accounts.
"In this way, beneficiaries of certain social and child protection benefits will not have to go to the post office to collect their benefits, but will, if they wish, receive their benefits via a bank account. Also, beneficiaries will have a number of benefits that facilitate access to banking services. This includes free opening, maintaining and closing accounts, free cash deposits and withdrawals at the counter and ATM, as well as the first 10 national payment transactions per month without a fee. For all other transactions, the fee may amount to a maximum of 70% of the price that the bank charges other users of accounts with basic services," the ministry said.
As they explained, the main goal of the cooperation is to increase financial inclusion, preserve the value of social transfers and protect the most vulnerable groups of the population. "The common key message is that by using an account with basic account maintenance services, payments, and disbursements of social and child protection benefits will not be reduced by commissions and fees, and that beneficiaries receive the full value of the funds paid to them by the state, without additional costs," the Ministry emphasized, adding that beneficiaries will have the option of having their payments delivered to their bank account or, as before, via the Montenegrin Post Office.
Basic account for the most vulnerable now available in four banks
Kalezić explained that the Law on the Comparability of Fees Related to Consumer Payment Accounts, Switching Consumer Payment Accounts and Payment Accounts with Basic Services establishes an obligation for systemic banks to open and maintain a payment account with basic services for vulnerable categories.
"It is currently possible to open a basic account at Crnogorska Komercijalna Banka, NLB Banka, Hipotekarna Banka and Erste Banka. At the same time, the intention of the Central Bank of Montenegro is to ensure, through changes to the regulations, that all banks operating in the territory of Montenegro are obliged to include this service in their offer," Kalezić stated.
Mail excuse to prevent abuse
When the payment of child benefits for all children began in 2022, the then Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare said that this benefit would be paid exclusively through the Post Office of Montenegro, to the child's residential address.
Such a method, as stated by the Parents Association, is absolutely unacceptable in the 21st century, especially considering that until now, children up to the age of six were entitled to child benefit, and that their parents, or guardians, could choose the method of payment - to a bank account or by mail.
The Ministry of Labor then claimed that the payment of child allowance "should be made exclusively through the Post of Montenegro, since there is no other mechanism for controlling whether persons exercising their rights to material benefits reside at the registered address in Montenegro."
"This mechanism of control and prevention of abuse does not only apply to child allowance, but to all rights in the field of social and child protection, and in that case, the right to child allowance cannot be an exception. Rights in the field of social and child protection are exercised by citizens of Montenegro if they live on the territory of Montenegro. Possible payment through banks would open the possibility for Montenegrin citizens who do not live on the territory of Montenegro to exercise the right to child allowance, where, in accordance with the Law on Social and Child Protection, social work centers do not have jurisdiction in procedures for exercising rights in the field of social and child protection," the Ministry stated.
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