Ministry and CBM sign agreement: "The goal is for social benefits to reach beneficiaries in full"

Minister of Social Welfare, Family Care and Demography Damir Gutić and Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro Irena Radović signed an Agreement on establishing cooperation regarding the implementation of payment accounts with basic services.

The Ministry announced that this document represents an important step towards improving access to basic banking services for socially vulnerable categories of citizens, i.e. increasing their financial inclusion.

"The aim of the agreement is to contribute to the wider use of payment accounts with basic services, through joint action by the Central Bank of Montenegro and the Ministry towards raising awareness and educating social benefit beneficiaries about the benefits provided to them by the Law on the Comparability of Fees Associated with Consumer Payment Accounts, Switching Consumer Payment Accounts and Payment Accounts with Basic Services. In the first phase of the implementation of this Agreement, the focus will be on the promotion of payment accounts with basic services for recipients of personal disability benefits, while activities towards other social benefit beneficiaries will be implemented in the following phases," the statement reads.

According to the aforementioned Law, which has been in force since January 2023, as they said, the prerequisites have been created for the social transfer system to become faster, safer and fully inclusive, i.e. for social benefits to be paid to end beneficiaries without indirect costs and commissions.

"This means that social benefit beneficiaries have the right to open a payment account with basic services, which includes a number of benefits: free opening, maintenance and closing of the account, free cash deposits and withdrawals at the counter and ATM, as well as ten free national payment transactions per month. For other services (card payments, direct debits, internet transactions, etc.), fees for social benefit beneficiaries are reduced and can amount to a maximum of 70% of the fee. A payment account with basic services does not allow for overdrafts (the so-called permitted minus), and the owner of the basic account cannot have other accounts in Montenegro," the Ministry explained.

Gutić said that signing the agreement with the Central Bank is an important step towards the modernization and more efficient functioning of the social protection system.

"By enabling beneficiaries of personal disability benefits to receive funds directly into their bank accounts, we have simplified the payment process, reduced administrative costs, and ensured greater security and availability of funds. This measure contributes to transparency and strengthens citizens' trust in institutions, and especially facilitates the daily lives of our fellow citizens," said the minister.

Radović said that the Central Bank, in accordance with its mandate, is committed to strengthening financial inclusion and consumer protection, and that this agreement is an example of how this is achieved in practice.

"By signing the Agreement, we confirm our shared commitment to providing consumers belonging to socially vulnerable categories with secure access to funds, without additional costs. Our goal is for social benefits to reach beneficiaries in full, without reductions through commissions and fees, and to encourage their greater inclusion in the formal financial system," the Governor emphasized.

The Central Bank of Montenegro and the Ministry of Social Welfare will, as announced by the ministry, continue joint activities aimed at strengthening financial inclusion and raising citizens' awareness of the rights and opportunities provided by a payment account with basic services. "In this way, through coordinated action of institutions, an environment is created in which socially vulnerable groups of citizens will have simpler and safer access to financial services, in accordance with EU standards and practices," they said.