A meeting between the Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska and part of the National Bank team with high representatives of several significant credit unions from the United States of America and Europe was held yesterday. The meeting was initiated by the FULM Savings House, which, as part of its 20th anniversary celebration, invited credit union representatives who are its international partners in our country.

Governor Angelovska Bezhoska referred to the structure and the features of our financial sector. She emphasized the stability of our financial system, stressing that it has been maintained continuously, while deepening the level of financial intermediation. The discussion with the high credit union representatives covered in detail the observations and assessments of the last year performance of our financial system, discussing the risks that domestic financial institutions are exposed to in their operations. It was emphasized that the cross-sectoral connection of individual institutional segments of our financial system and the possibilities of risk spillover are relatively low.

The representatives of the credit unions expressed particular interest in the new Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems the preparation of which is underway. The meeting also provided examples of successful credit union models on a global level that collect deposits from citizens and provide payment services. Furthermore, the possibilities and advantages the financial services digitization with this type of institutions ensure for their members were also highlighted.

At the end of the meeting, it was jointly noted that the new Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems, which transposes the most important parts of European legislation in this area, will create conditions for a more dynamic development of our payment landscape.

The representatives of the credit unions and FULM that participated in the meeting, on behalf of the World Council of Credit Unions, expressed their gratitude to the National Bank for the twenty years of successful cooperation within the activities for providing better access to financial services to the citizens of our country.