Moldovans saved €1.4 million in transfer fees in the first month after Moldova joined SEPA

According to data provided by the National Bank of Moldova, in just one month after the Republic of Moldova officially joined the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), transactions to and from Moldova increased by €300 million, exceeding €1.3 billion in total.

The same statistics show that more than half of SEPA transactions were carried out by individuals. According to NBM Governor Anca Dragu, the direct savings generated by these transactions amount to approximately €1.4 million.

The Republic of Moldova became part of the Single Euro Payments Area on 6 October 2025. By 7 November, SEPA transactions were 25% higher compared with the same period last year. Currently, eight commercial banks in Moldova have officially joined the SEPA system — a payments infrastructure that brings together 41 European countries and offers citizens and businesses fast, secure euro transfers at low or even zero cost, on the same terms as within the European Union.

Anca Dragu, Governor of the National Bank of Moldova, mentioned: “We have more than a month of SEPA operations in the Republic of Moldova. In terms of transaction costs, we paid around €78,000. Without SEPA, these costs would have been around €1.5 million. In other words, all the people who made payments from Moldova to the 41 SEPA countries and vice versa, have saved over €1.4 million. In total, about €1.35 billion was transacted. By number of transactions, 55% were made by individuals.”

“If we look only at fees, this represents an 18-fold reduction. If we extrapolate these figures for a full year, we expect roughly €20 million in savings for individuals and around €36-40 million for businesses,” the BNM Governor added.

Read more about Moldova’s accession to SEPA and what it entails here.