Serbia’s instant-payment infrastructure processed 34.5 million transactions in the second quarter of 2026, marking a 30.7% year-on-year increase and underscoring the expanding role of real-time transfers in the country’s banking market. The value of payments processed through the National Bank of Serbia’s (NBS) IPS infrastructure rose 32.3% year on year to approximately RSD 442 billion. Average daily transaction volumes reached 378,672, roughly 89,000 more transactions per day than during the same period a year earlier.
The continued increase is bringing instant payments to a scale that is increasingly relevant to banks, merchants and payment companies.
Instant Transfers Expand Across Banking Services
Instant account-to-account payments allow funds to move between bank accounts continuously, without dependence on conventional clearing cycles. Their expanding use is creating pressure for financial institutions to incorporate the service more extensively into digital banking channels. Banks are increasingly required to consider how instant transfers fit into mobile banking applications, merchant checkout systems, corporate treasury services and other digital products.
The expansion could also influence competition and fee structures across the payments market as customers become accustomed to continuously available transfers. Serbia’s domestic payment development is taking place alongside its move toward closer integration with European payment infrastructure and standards.
SEPA Integration Adds Cross-Border Dimension
Alignment with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is designed to facilitate cheaper, faster and simpler euro payments between Serbia and participating European markets once the required banking and technical arrangements are fully implemented. The growing use of domestic instant payments provides Serbian banks with an established digital payments infrastructure as they prepare for that transition.
The development also has implications for companies outside the retail banking sector. Businesses increasingly require faster settlement for e-commerce, supplier payments and working-capital management, while merchants can use instant transfers to receive money directly into bank accounts rather than relying solely on card networks.
Banks and Fintech Firms Face Changing Competition
The expansion of account-to-account payments is creating competitive pressure throughout the payments chain. Traditional banks retain control over customer accounts, while fintech companies can compete through payment interfaces, payment initiation, merchant services and software integration.
For banks, the combination of faster transactions and expectations for lower costs and continuous availability is changing the competitive environment around payment services. The NBS IPS system also gives the central bank a direct infrastructure role in Serbia’s instant-payment market, unlike systems that have developed primarily through private-sector networks. This centralised infrastructure can support greater standardisation among Serbian banks.
Instant Payments Challenge Established Card Channels
The growth of instant transfers does not remove the established role of card payments in retail commerce. Cards remain widely used, particularly because of their international acceptance and existing merchant networks. Greater adoption of account-to-account payments could shift an increasing portion of domestic transactions toward channels where immediate settlement and lower processing costs are more important than card-specific functionality.
The second-quarter figures therefore place instant payments at a scale with broader implications for Serbia’s banking sector. With 34.5 million transactions in three months and annual growth exceeding 30%, the infrastructure is increasingly relevant to how banks compete for customers and how companies structure payment processes. The next stage of development will depend on integration alongside continued transaction growth, including the ability of banks to connect Serbia’s domestic instant-payment infrastructure with increasingly seamless European payment services in corporate banking, e-commerce and cross-border transactions.
