Commodity and services traders, and customers of those traders, can make and receive cross-border payments in RON, EUR and other currencies.

A cashless payment through the transfer of funds from the payer to the beneficiary involves a range of operations allowed only to payment service providers.

Funds can be transferred by payment service providers (credit institutions, payment institutions and electronic money institutions) under a payment order sent to them through a payment instrument (credit transfer by direct debit, payment card, cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note).

The transfer of funds between two accounts opened with different institutions generally involves a RON or EUR payment system in which both institutions participate or interbank corresponding account relations for other foreign currencies. There are three payment systems in Romania: one for high value or urgent payments in RON (ReGIS); one for low value payments in RON (below RON 50 000) and in EUR (the SENT system with its components dedicated to RON, EUR and instant RON transfers); and a system for high value and urgent payments in EUR (TARGET2- România).

Payment institutions generally apply charges according to the amount and urgency of the payment made. Payments made via the ReGIS and TARGET2-România systems can reach the recipient within a few minutes and payments made through the SENT instant component reach the recipient within 10 seconds. The RON and EUR components of the SENT system enable three settlement sessions per working day.

All payment service providers and the abovementioned payment systems are monitored by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

The implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) aims to extend the process of European integration to low value payments in EUR by creating a single European market for euro payments.

Conceptually, SEPA is an area where all euro payments, including cross-border payments, are treated as national payments (with no differentiation made between national and cross-border payments).

In Romania, national and cross-border payments in RON are made through different banking channels and have different technical characteristics and levels of automation, as well as different costs.