Despite the initial reluctance of a part of the public administration employees, the withdrawal of payrolls through the bank accounts has now turned into as common as any other services provided by the private market. The channelling of pensions through the bank accounts has met with certain complications, since the small amounts and the high circulation do not make them very attractive for the commercial banks. The licensing of the post for carrying out certain banking services has resulted to be a good solution for this issue. The larger involvement of the private business in this process remains a challenge. In this context, the encouragement of channelling the payments through the banking system is a crucial step to be taken. The requirement of a rigorous application of the obligation that (small, medium and large) businesses have to open and operate with the bank accounts would not only serve to reduce cash but also to reduce the informality. 2. Monthly utility payment (electricity, water, telephone) through the bank accounts  The monthly utility payment is now made through banks. However, this is limited only to the clients of the bank the utilities have their account in. The holding of these utilities’ accounts with all the banks in the system, or the finding of a kind of interbank cooperation would not only serve to increasing the amount of payments channelled through banks, but also to enhancing the competition. Another difficulty encountered in this context is the implementation of bank accounts direct crediting by the utilities.
Fatos Ibrahimi: The reduction of cash in the context of reducing the informal economy Speech by Mr Fatos Ibrahimi, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the Conference “Reducing the informal economy – a challenge of the Albanian Government”, Tirana, 16 October 2006. *  *  *  Since the inception of the programme undertaken by the Bank of Albania, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance, on reducing cash, it came clear that the issue of cash in economy cannot be treated as separate from the issue of the informal economy. The companies, which try not to expose their activities to the third parties, will avoid banks and will find alternative sources of financing and payment, mainly in cash. Therefore, the Government initiative on reducing the informal economy is to be welcomed when bearing in mind the great impact it will have on reducing the cash economy. It needs to be said that the process of formalizing the economy has not been considered as an excuse for not undertaking a number of measures and initiatives, which may accelerate the progress of cash reduction. Among the actions undertaken in this context, I would mention:  1. The channelling of the state administration payrolls through the bank accounts  At this moment, the entire public administration payrolls are channelled through the accounts with the commercial banks.