In many European countries, even those where the digital economy is strong, the idea of eliminating cash transactions within five years would be controversial. In Albania, where even the national Association of Banks acknowledges only 34% of the population trusts banks, a cashless society seems very far away.
Yet, as the eastern Mediterranean country pursues a path to European Union membership, newly re-elected Prime Minister Edi Rama is determined “that by the end of this decade, Albania will become a cashless society, meaning that all interactions and financial transactions are fully digital.”
Albanians’ mistrust of the banking sector goes back to a post-communism boom-and-bust that saw many stripped of their life savings by unscrupulous investment schemes, with losses amounting to half the country’s GDP and around 2,000 people killed in a near-civil war.
🇦🇱 PM Edi Rama ambitious vision for Albania 2030:
— kos_data (@kos_data) August 5, 2025
– Become EU next member state
– Become the world's first cashless country
– Attract 20 million tourists a year (double today's figure)
– Elect first female prime minister
– Run fully on renewable energy; start exporting
– Create… pic.twitter.com/dLpq74mije
Nearly three decades on, in an otherwise safe and settled Albania, where tourism is flourishing thanks to government backing and reams of influencers keen to highlight the “Albanian Riviera”, many citizens still keep their savings under the mattress. The population is very rural, and the proportion of people with access to a bank account is almost 20% lower than the European average. World Bank data suggests less than half of citizens hold a bank account. Meanwhile, the so-called grey economy, operating below the radar of authorities and taxation, is estimated at between 29% and 50%.
What the tourism influencers perhaps don’t mention, but Lonely Planet does, is that “Albania has been remarkably slow to adopt card payments.” In a land where PayPal for commerce does not exist and many tradespeople and businesses hate card transaction fees (and tax), “paying with anything but the local currency (the Albanian lek) or euros is virtually impossible outside major cities. You’ll even be expected to pay cash for rental cars and gas.”
What’s more, ATMs “often charge a steep transaction fee (€6 / US$6.28 or more) and only supply large bills.” Lonely Planet recommends taking euros to use or exchange for lek, which can be more easily spent with a wider range of establishments.
Rama insists that this can be changed. “What’s needed is more upskilling,” he told an “Albania 2030 — a vision towards European integration” conference in July 2025, claiming, “if we manage to properly outline the roadmap ahead, this goal is entirely achievable, and it will free the country from a heavy burden of outdated practices and inefficiencies that weigh down everyday life.”
🇦🇱 Albania’s #EU path is turning into real change! At the Tirana Forum, Eridana Çano called the Reform & Growth Facility a rehearsal for EU membership by 2030.
— SASPAC (@SASPACALBANIA) September 17, 2025
✅ 38/41 reforms delivered
💶 €204M requested
From fairer taxes to 5G & green innovation — progress is real. pic.twitter.com/SoCFlg381p
Others are not so sure that the timeline is feasible. Despite an increase in electronic payments since 2015, from just two to 21 payments per person per year, according to Bank of Albania figures, the European average is somewhere well over 500 non-cash payments annually, according to Travel Tomorrow calculations based on European Central Bank statistics and European Commission population data.
Albania is due to align with the EU’s SEPA system by October 2025, but taking Albanians from just 21 electronic payments per year to paying for everything without cash within five years will remain quite a journey, entailing the enforcement of cash purchase thresholds, according to Spiro Brumbulli, secretary general of the Albanian Banking Association. Whether a cashless Albanian society is truly “achievable” remains to be seen, and one thing is clear: visitors should not leave their cash behind at home just yet.
