The Central Bank of Montenegro today launched a new generation of the national payment system – RTS/X – marking the most significant functional and technological upgrade in the country’s domestic payment operations since its establishment in 2005.
This move is part of a broader phase of comprehensive modernization aimed at aligning Montenegro’s payment system with European standards to provide faster, safer, and more accessible payments for all users — citizens, businesses, and institutions, the CBCG announced.
The new system introduces online clearing, allowing interbank transactions — payments and receipts up to €1,000 — to be processed throughout the day without waiting for the previous fixed clearing cycles. This enables users to have near-instant access to funds.
Thanks to the online clearing feature, once money is sent, the transaction cannot be canceled, enhancing the predictability and reliability of the payment system.
For citizens, this means that payments up to €1,000 can reach their accounts within seconds or minutes, depending on their bank.
For businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, online clearing provides earlier access to funds from smaller transactions, simplifying daily management of obligations and liquidity. For example, a company receiving payment confirmation from a client can immediately pay suppliers or initiate new deliveries, contributing to more efficient operations and faster capital turnover.
The system fully complies with the recently introduced international ISO 20022 standard, enabling more precise and structured information in every payment transaction, automatic processing without manual intervention, better regulatory compliance, enhanced protection against errors and fraud, automatic linking of transactions to invoices, and improved bookkeeping.
Implementing the ISO 20022 standard also brings additional benefits — the new message format facilitates the exchange of more detailed transaction information, easier integration with accounting systems, and a higher level of automation in business processes. This standard is already used by major payment systems in the European Union, including TARGET and SEPA infrastructures.
In the next phase, by the end of 2025, the system’s operational capacity will be expanded to include extended working hours and the ability to process orders on non-working days and weekends, further improving the flexibility and availability of payment services.
Alongside the RTS/X system implementation, the Central Bank of Montenegro is actively working on establishing an instant payment system — TIPS Clone — developed in cooperation with regional central banks and the Bank of Italy, scheduled to launch in July 2026. Unlike the DNS system, where settlements occur in predefined daily cycles, TIPS Clone enables interbank payments to be executed within just a few seconds.
TIPS Clone is a regional platform that will enable real-time instant payments 24/7, 365 days a year, across Western Balkan countries. It is technically and functionally identical to the European Central Bank’s TIPS platform, further strengthening interoperability with the European market.
The modernization of the payment system is a key component of Montenegro’s digital economy transition and competitiveness enhancement. The CBCG will continue, in cooperation with other institutions, banks, and international partners, to build a modern, reliable, and Europe-aligned financial system that serves the citizens and businesses of Montenegro.
