More than 1,700 applications for introducing cashless payment via POS program
More than 1,700 merchants who have signed up for the POS program and free installation of terminals and eCommerce solutions in the past 6 months have decided to improve their business through the introduction of cashless payments, representatives of the National Initiative for Cashless Payments - A Better Way announced at the Info day for micro and small businesses in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
The info day was an opportunity for interested entrepreneurs and small businesses to learn about the latest trends in the field of digitalization of business and payments, as well as how to apply for the POS program. Zlatko Milikić, team leader of the Better Way project in front of GIZ for Serbia, emphasized that the goal is to support the expansion of the acceptance infrastructure for non-cash payments to 25,000 points of sale by 2026, as well as counters and thus offer citizens more choices when paying, and help small businesses and institutions offer a better and more efficient service.
- Greater representation of non-cash payments directly contributes to fair competition, improvement of the quality of public services, digitization of business and, in the broadest sense, faster economic development of our country and improvement of the quality of life for all of us. Our analyzes showed that if non-cash payments in Serbia reached the average of Central and Eastern Europe, it could reduce the volume of the gray economy by 3.4% of GDP, i.e. increase budget revenues by 700 million euros per year - concluded Milikić.
The POS program is the backbone of the National Initiative for Cashless Payments, which is a joint project of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Mastercard and Visa, and is implemented under the auspices of the develoPPP program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in cooperation with NALED and the Ministry of Finance.
Branislava Simanić, director of the entrepreneurship sector at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, said that they are there as "the house of all businessmen", and that this event also proves that. "We are committed to the improvement and development of entrepreneurship in Serbia, and we believe that providing favorable conditions for accepting cashless payments is one of the key steps in that direction. That's why we gladly accepted the opportunity to join the promotion of the National initiative for cashless payment, Better Way", stressed Simanić.
Milan Trbojević, owner of the bookkeeping agency "Knjiški moljac", said that from personal experience and cooperation with clients, he saw the advantage of such payment methods.
- The introduction of non-cash payment methods opens the door to a larger number of customers for small businesses, which directly increases sales. With this method of payment, they also solve logistical problems related to situations when they do not have money in the cash register to return change and the challenges of keeping and handing over paper money. However, the main advantage is that they offer customers a greater choice and make their services and products available to a wider market, especially in a situation where they also have an online store - explained Trbojević.
Marko Marjanović, founder of the "Zločin i Kazan" distillery, spoke about the advantages of introducing a cashless payment method from an entrepreneur's point of view, and all the information about how to apply for the POS program, which includes free POS installation and a subsidized merchant fee of 0.99% in the first year day, said Milica Stefanović, Director of the National Initiative for Cashless Payments Better Way in front of NALED.
All interested businessmen can apply for the POS program through the website boljinacin.rs or in the branches of the nine banks participating in the program.
