Serbia’s financial sector is undergoing a structural digital shift, with more than 518,000 financial contracts concluded remotely in 2025, marking a sharp 60% year-on-year increase and confirming the rapid normalization of digital onboarding across banking and payment services.
The data, released by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), points to a broader transformation in how financial products are distributed, moving decisively away from branch-based models toward fully digital customer journeys. What was once a pandemic-era adaptation has now evolved into a core channel for growth, reshaping both cost structures for banks and user expectations.
From a longer-term perspective, the scale of change is even more striking. Compared to 2020, the number of remotely concluded financial contracts has increased more than sevenfold, highlighting how quickly digital infrastructure and regulatory frameworks have matured to support remote financial services.
At the center of this transformation is the increasing adoption of video-identification, a process that allows customers to establish a banking relationship without physical presence. In 2025 alone, more than 159,000 contracts were concluded through this method, representing a 75.4% increase compared to 2024.
The share of such contracts continues to rise steadily, reaching 30.7% of all remote agreements, compared to just 8.4% in 2020, indicating that remote onboarding is no longer marginal but increasingly central to financial service delivery.
The remaining 69.3% of contracts were concluded through other digital channels, typically involving customers who already have an existing relationship with a financial institution and are adding new products—such as loans, overdrafts, or savings instruments—through mobile or online platforms.
This shift is not only technological but also behavioral. The growing reliance on remote channels reflects a broader change in consumer expectations, where speed, convenience and 24/7 access are becoming baseline requirements. Financial institutions are responding by reconfiguring service models, reducing reliance on physical infrastructure and investing more heavily in digital interfaces, cybersecurity and compliance systems.
The structure of products being contracted remotely also reveals deeper trends in household finance. Data from 2025 shows strong growth across multiple categories, including current accounts, cash loans, overdrafts and savings products, with particularly sharp increases in account openings and ancillary banking services.
This suggests that digital channels are not limited to simple transactions but are increasingly used for more complex financial decisions, including borrowing and savings allocation. For banks, this expands the revenue potential of digital platforms while also intensifying competition, as switching costs for customers decline.
The inclusion of non-bank payment service providers in the remote contracting ecosystem is another notable development. Although still a relatively small share—around 1.7–1.8% of video-identified contracts—their presence signals gradual diversification of the financial services landscape, in line with EU-style open banking and fintech integration trends.
From a regulatory standpoint, Serbia has effectively aligned its framework with European standards, particularly in areas such as digital identification, anti-money laundering compliance and electronic contracting. This alignment has been critical in enabling the scale-up of remote services without compromising security or consumer protection.
For the banking sector, the implications are both operational and financial. Digital onboarding significantly reduces customer acquisition costs, shortens processing times and allows for greater scalability without proportional increases in physical infrastructure. At the same time, it requires continuous investment in IT systems, fraud prevention and regulatory compliance.
The trend also carries broader macroeconomic implications. As financial services become more accessible and frictionless, financial inclusion can expand, particularly among younger, digitally native populations and users outside major urban centers. This, in turn, can support higher levels of formal financial activity, increased savings penetration and more efficient credit allocation.
What emerges is a clear structural pivot: Serbia’s financial system is transitioning from a branch-centric model to a platform-based ecosystem, where digital interfaces serve as the primary gateway to banking services. The 518,000 remote contracts recorded in 2025 are less a peak than an indicator of direction, with further growth likely as both technology and user adoption continue to advance.
