Serbia’s Postal Savings Bank opens improvised branches at crossings with Kosovo

The improvised branches will be open every day except Sundays from 9 am to 7 pm, said the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, KoSSev reported. (Kosovo and Metohija is the official name for what the Serbian authorities consider to be the country’s southern province)

Postal Savings Bank clients will be able to perform all banking operations in the improvised branches: withdrawal of salaries, pensions, social financial aid, and other incomes, payments into accounts in dinars and foreign currency and other banking transactions.

All four facilities are equipped with ATMs, where the withdrawal of funds from dinar accounts will be possible at any time.

In addition to this, the bank also sent two mobile branches that will be available at these locations according to the citizens’ needs, said the Office, KoSSev reported.

The Office added that this technical solution was the only one “feasible” under the current circumstances, that it is temporary “until a solution for the normal operation of payment transactions is found.”

This comes after the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) adopted a regulation on cash transactions, which came into effect of February 1, making the euro the sole currency in Kosovo and thus effectively banning the Serbian dinar.

The Office noted that the Postal Savings Bank branches in northern Kosovo remain active, and that Belgrade is “constantly looking for a sustainable solution” for payment transactions from Serbia to the Kosovo territory.

KoSSev reported that kilometers-long lines of vehicles clogged the Jarinje crossing on Monday.