FAQ

The programme is designed to push inflation and inflation expectations back to levels closer to the ECB's objective in the euro area as a whole. It does not reduce the debt of any particular country.

It is true that in the new programme some risks are not shared across the Eurosystem but remain with the national central bank. The ECB is committed to the principle of risk-sharing, and that's why 20% of the purchases fall under the regime of full risk-sharing. But the decision also mitigates concerns about potential unintended fiscal consequences.

It is the Governing Council which, in accordance with the Statute of the ESCB, decides the way in which and the extent to which losses incurred by national central banks are shared within the Eurosystem. Internal loss-sharing mechanisms in no way undermine the singleness of our monetary policy. All national central banks and the ECB participate in the asset purchases. There is one global amount and the purchases are coordinated centrally by the ECB. They are calibrated to maintain price stability in the euro area as a whole, and they take into account the unique institutional structure of the euro area, where a common currency and single monetary policy co-exist with 19 national fiscal and economic policies. Precisely because our arrangement takes into account our institutional structure – because it is tailored to the specific measure – it ensures the highest degree of effectiveness.

Since the financial crisis of 2008, the ECB has adopted a number of unconventional policies that prompted critics to warn that it was about to incur huge losses. The fact is that, ever since its inception, the ECB has continued to make profits. It has transferred these profits via national central banks back to all citizens of the euro area. As in the past, the ECB will act in a prudent manner.

The ECB has consistently fulfilled its mandate to keep inflation below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. As a result, the ECB has safeguarded the purchasing power of all euro area citizens. Right now, the euro area is experiencing a prolonged period of low growth and very weak inflation. An increase in central bank liquidity is therefore not likely to result in high rates of inflation. Once inflation picks up, the ECB will tighten monetary policy to contain inflationary pressures and preserve price stability. In a nutshell, the ECB has the mandate and the instruments to cope with inflationary risks as soon as they might emerge in the future – and a very strong track record of doing so in the past.

Many central banks have used outright purchases as part of their monetary policy, often referred to as quantitative easing, or QE. It has been employed by the Federal Reserve Board, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan. Open market operations are a core instrument of central banks even in normal times. Outright purchases become useful when policy interest rates cannot be reduced any further. They can help central banks to fulfil their mandate, which in the case of the ECB is maintaining price stability, and thereby support growth and the creation of jobs.

The ECB strictly adheres to the prohibition on monetary financing by not buying in the primary market. The ECB will only buy bonds after a market price has formed. This ensures that the ECB does not distort the market pricing of risk.

Yes it is. The ECB implements the monetary policy of the euro area. It pursues its mandate of price stability with the instruments defined in the Treaties. Outright purchases of marketable instruments are explicitly mentioned as a monetary policy instrument (in Article 18.1 of the Statute of the ESCB). This includes the possibility to purchase instruments such as government bonds, as long as they are bought on the secondary market from investors and not on the primary market, i.e. directly from Member States.

The ECB has a clear mandate: maintaining price stability. This programme will help to bring inflation back to levels in line with the ECB's objective. But it will also help businesses across Europe to enjoy better access to credit, boost investment, create jobs and thus support overall economic growth, which is a precondition for inflation to return to and stabilise at levels close to 2%. Subject to price stability, these are also important objectives to which the ECB contributes in line with the Treaty.

The ECB pursues a symmetric definition of price stability – high inflation is as dangerous to our economy as deflation. In the current period of weak growth and low inflation, the interest rate instrument alone has not been sufficient to steer inflation closer to 2%. If the ECB still had room to cut interest rates, it would have done so already. Given that this option was no longer possible, the asset purchase programme was the only appropriate tool to enable the ECB to achieve a similar result. To fulfil its mandate, the ECB needs to make use of all instruments at its disposal.

If you cannot exchange the money personally you may send them to the National Bank of Slovakia by post. Instructions  are at the web page: https://nbs.sk/en/banknotes-and-coins/exchange-of-money/exchange-of-slovak-banknotes-and-slovak-coins The address for sending money by the registered letter: National Bank of Slovakia Cash Handling Section Imricha Karvasa 1 813 25 Bratislava Slovakia You will be informed about the exchange of money by a letter from the Cash Handling Section.

In Slovakia as in other eurozone countries there are seven types of euro banknotes in the nominal values of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 EUR and eight euro coins in the nominal values 2 and 1 EUR and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents. Every euro banknote represents one architectural style. Displayed designs do not represent any particular architectural monument, but characteristic features of different architectonic styles in form of windows, gates and bridges. Windows and gates displayed on front side of the banknotes are the symbols of European spirit of openness and cooperation. The bridges on the rear symbolize the communication between nations and between Europe and rest of the world. More information about security features can be found on: http://www.new-euro-banknotes.eu/

According to the Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 566/1992 Coll. on the National Bank of Slovakia (article 17a, para 1) within cash transactions in the Slovak Republic, it shall be prohibited to refuse to accept legal tender in its nominal value without lawful reason. This applies to euro banknotes and coins of all nominal values. At the same time, if somebody refuses to accept without lawful reason the legal tender he constitutes criminal offence (according to the article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Slovak Republic no. 300/2005 Coll.)   

According to the act on the NBS (article 17a, para 2), as of the euro introduction date, legal persons and natural persons in the Slovak Republic shall, in regard to the making of monetary payments, accept the legal tender; they may refuse legal tender and return accepted legal tender into circulation pursuant to separate legal provisions applicable in the euro area to euro banknotes and euro coins, and, in the extent set out in these separate legal provisions, pursuant to the terms laid down in the act or in other separate legal provisions.

 According to European and Slovak legislation natural persons and legal entities (except for the NBS and the banks) can in one single payment refuse only valid collector euro coins produced from precious metals. 

Besides, no party, except for the issuing authority and for those persons specifically designated by the national legislation of the issuing Member State, shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins in one single payment (article 11 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro).

Valid legal provisions, either in Slovakia or in the eurozone, do not enable the legal entities to refuse any euro cash due to e. g. high nominal value of the banknote.

Replacement of mutilated, incomplete and otherwise damaged Euro banknotes is realised in the amount corresponding to the denomination of the euro banknotes submitted, or sent by post, in the manner described at the following address: https://nbs.sk/en/banknotes-and-coins/exchange-of-money/exchange-of-damaged-euro-banknotes-and-euro-coins.

The replacement personally is performed at the cash desks at NBS's Headquarters and [category CategoryId="36dd2b9a-4a60-4128-96c6-0538dc1ccc22" LanguageId="43757208-18ee-4720-b335-9aa20090e310"]local offices, during the hours of opening to the public[/category].

Exchange of stamped or unstamped Czechoslovak banknotes for valid euro banknotes is not possible anymore. Last stamped federal banknote in the value of 500 Czechoslovak crowns lost its validity on 10 January 1994.

The NBS does not perform any foreign exchange activity; i. e. neither it buys nor sells any of the foreign currencies.

The exhibition From the Slovak Crown to the Euro is open only to organised groups in advance. Contact details and information on how to book an appointment for a guided tour of the exhibition can be found on the 5penazi portal.

It is not the competence of the NBS to protect bank deposits. It falls within the competence of the Deposit Protection Fund, of which the NBS is only a shareholder.  More information on which banks or branches of foreign banks operating in Slovakia are subject to its protection can be found on the website  the Deposit Protection System Members.

The application, including its attachments, shall be submitted in Slovak. If any of the attachments are in another language, an officially certified translation into Slovak must also be submitted. The NBS may, on the basis of a written proposal of the applicant, waive the submission of an officially certified translation of the technical documentation or other attachment into Slovak if it is drawn up in the Czech language or in a language commonly used in the field of international finance, most often in English.

The NBS will comply with the timelines set out in the MiCA, while the simplified procedure for authorisation will not be applied in Slovakia. The NBS will assess whether the application is complete within 25 working days of receipt of the application. If the application is complete, the NBS will decide within 40 working days from the date of receipt of the complete application whether to approve or reject it. The length of the licensing procedure is primarily influenced by the readiness of the applicant. If you are planning to apply for a MiCA license in Slovakia, we recommend that you contact the NBS (crypto@nbs.sk) prior to submitting the application itself and take advantage of the so-called pre-licensing dialogue, which may help you to improve the quality of your application and thus help to reduce the length of the licensing procedure.

Authorization from NBS is necessary for provision of the following crypto-asset services:

1. providing custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients
2. operation of a trading platform for crypto-asset
3. exchange of crypto-assets for funds
4. exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets
5. execution of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
6. placing of crypto-assets
7. reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
8. providing advice on crypto-assets
9. providing portfolio management on crypto-assets
10. providing transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients

Definitions of crypto-asset services are contained in Art. 3 section 1 MiCA.

No. Natural and legal persons buying /selling crypto-asets on their own account and who do not provide any crypto-asset services as it is defined in Art. 3 section 1 MiCA do not need any authorization from NBS.

MiCA parts, which concern provision of crypto-assets will start to apply from 30 December 2024.

Requests for getting authorization for the providers of crypto-asset services are contained in Art. 59 – 65 MiCA and will further be specified in delegated and implementing regulations and guidelines which are prepared by European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA). Overview of the relevant legislation can be found in the section Legislation.

NBS will start to receive authorization requests for the provision of crypto-asset services after the delegated and implementing regulation on the details of the authorization application comes into force. Decision on granting of authorization can be effective at the earliest on 30 December 2024. NBS offers to applicants possibility of consultation concerning the authorization before its submission. In case of interest for consultation before submission of the request you can write us to the email address: crypto@nbs.sk and send us a detailed description of your business model, including the type of crypto-asset service according to Art. 3 section 1 MiCA, which you intend to provide.

Based on passporting (freedom of settlement, or free provision of services in the EU), an entity which obtains an authorization for the provision of crypto-asset services from NBS can freely provide these services in all of the Member states of the EU.

Yes. Professionals or public can get involved into consultations of delegated and implementing regulation and guidelines which are being prepared by European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and European Banking Authority (EBA). Overview of all the consultations opened are contained in the section Legislation as well as on the website of ESMA and EBA, where is described the way of engaging in consultation. On behalf of NBS we would like to ask you to send us responses which will be sent to EBA/ESMA to get overview of all responses of Slovak entities. Your responses can be sent to email address crypto@nbs.sk

All the relevant legislation is contained in the section Legislation.

According to the current Slovak legislation, it is necessary for the provision of crypto-asset services to obtain a “tied business” (for the provision of services of virtual currency wallet and for the provision of services of virtual currency exchange). On 30 December 2024 the current legislative framework will be replaced by European regulation MiCA. According to MICA the providers of crypto-asset services will need, for their activities, authorization from NBS or from relevant foreign supervisory authority.

Financial stability is a state where the financial sector as a whole is able to smoothly fulfil its basic functions even at times of major negative shocks in either the external or domestic economic and financial environment. Financial sector stability is correspondingly seen as a prerequisite for the healthy functioning of the real economy, while the behaviour of the financial sector should not deepen the economic cycle. The National Bank of Slovakia contributes to the stability of the financial system as a whole, principally by exercising supervision over financial market.   While financial stability is contingent on the financial health and sound internal processes of financial institutions, it is also significantly affected by other financial market participants – non-financial corporations, households and government – as well as by the legislative and regulatory environment. For this purpose, the National Bank of Slovakia publishes twice yearly a Financial Stability Report, which is concerned primarily with identifying the main risks to the stability of the financial sector in Slovakia.

Financial market supervision focuses on the stability of individual financial institutions and the exposure of individual financial entities to individual risks. The financial crisis of recent years has, though, shown that supervision defined in such narrow terms is unable to ensure financial stability. Therefore, a new policy has been developed with the aim of ensuring the financial stability of the financial system as a whole. The role of macroprudential policy is to identify, monitor and mitigate systemic risks to the financial system. This duty to mitigate risks is what sets macroprudential supervision policy apart from supervision focused primarily on monitoring and identifying risks.

The core and strategic objective of macroprudential policy is to contribute to maintaining the stability of the financial system as a whole. This includes, in particular, strengthening the resilience of the financial system and reducing systemic risk, thereby ensuring the financial system’s sustainable contribution to economic growth. This core objective can be broken down into the following intermediate objectives:

• to mitigate and prevent excessive credit growth;
• to limit direct and indirect concentration risk;
• to mitigate and prevent market illiquidity and excessive maturity mismatches in bank balance sheets;
• to limit the systemic impact of misaligned incentives, with a view to reducing moral hazard;
• to strengthen the resilience of financial market infrastructure.

In Slovakia macroprudential policy is implemented by the National Bank of Slovakia as a component of financial market supervision. This power was vested in the NBS by way of an amendment to the Financial Market Supervision Act of 15 March 2013. The NBS is also responsible for several areas that are closely linked to macroprudential policy, in particular supervision of individual financial market institutions, and the fields of regulation, currency, financial market operations, and payment systems, etc. The implementation of macroprudential policy is the responsibility of the Macroprudential Policy Department, while the highest decision-making authority in this field is the NBS Bank Board. Under the EU’s Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation, the ECB is also involved in the implementation of macroprudential policy and has the power, when necessary, to impose policy settings stricter than those applied by the NBS.nástrojov makroprudenciálnej politiky nad rámec stanovený NBS.

Mitigating risks of a systemic nature and their impact is one of the core elements of macroprudential policy. The actual implementation of the policy involves relatively many areas. The most important part of policy implementation is the application of legislative instruments. This is a relatively strong form of response to the existence of risks, but there are also other instruments and approaches. For a start there is active communication toward the public through the publication of reports and analyses. Communication may include commentary, reviews or recommendations for the financial sector. Policy implementation may include also direct communication with financial institutions with a view to influencing their behaviour. A separate form of policy implementation consists in initiatives for on-site inspections, or off-site supervision in response to facts learnt, or initiatives for regulatory changes. Internal responses may include changes to risk-measurement models. Furthermore, the NBS may respond to certain trends or risks by introducing new reporting requirements for financial institutions. Since some instruments, for example the countercyclical capital buffer, require quarterly review, the NBS will take decisions regarding macroprudential policy on a quarterly basis. However, it retains the option to change the policy whenever necessary.

Macroprudential policy has a direct impact on financial institutions. More stringent requirements or new duties increase financial institutions’ costs. Conversely, relaxing requirements lowers these costs. Increased costs can be transferred into prices or the affordability of services provided to clients and, therefore macroprudential policy can indirectly impact all financial market participants. These costs are easily apparent. On the other hand, macroprudential policy brings positive effects in the form of mitigating systemic risks, as well as making financial institutions more resilient. These benefits will later be experienced in the form of no or low costs connected with periods of financial or economic crisis. These positive effects will be felt only in the future and it is difficult to measure or visualise them in any way. It is thus a challenge for macroprudential policy to introduce at a time of growth, when vigilance is low and costs are apparent, measures whose benefits will be experienced only in the future and are not so apparent.

The NBS seeks to ensure that implementation of macroprudential policy is as transparent as possible. Financial market participants feel the application of instruments immediately, whilst positive impacts in the form of systemic risk mitigation are difficult to measure or visualise. Therefore, the NBS considers it of key importance that both the professional and lay public have a proper understanding of the implementation of macroprudential policy. The methodology for individual macroprudential policy instruments can be found in the section Financial stability instruments, including individual decisions.

At the European level macroprudential policy is defined primarily by Regulation (EU) No 1092/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on European Union macroprudential oversight of the financial system and establishing a European Systemic Risk Board, and two ESRB recommendations – Recommendation ESRB/2011/3 on the macroprudential mandate of national authorities and Recommendation ESRB/2013/1 on intermediate objectives and instruments of macroprudential policy. In Slovakia macroprudential policy is laid down mainly in the following laws:

• Act No 747/2004 Coll. on financial market supervision requires that macroprudential supervision be performed by the NBS and that the NBS, in the framework of this supervision, identify, monitor, assess and mitigate risks;
• Act No 566/1992 Coll. on the National Bank of Slovakia sets the NBS the general task of contributing to financial stability;
• The amendment to Act No 483/2001 Coll. on banks, implementing the CRD IV Directive and the CRR Regulation into Slovak legislation, grants the NBS powers to use legislative macroprudential policy instruments

More details may be found in the Financial stability legislation.

In the framework of the implementation of macroprudential policy at the European level, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) was created in 2010. The ESRB’s mission is to contribute to the prevention or mitigation of systemic risks to financial stability in the Union that arise from developments within the financial system and taking into account macroeconomic developments, so as to avoid periods of widespread financial distress. Since its founding, the ESRB has issued two recommendations regarding the organisation of macroprudential policy in EU Member States. For those countries participating in the Single Supervisory Mechanism, responsibility for macroprudential policy is shared between the respective national authority and the ECB. National authorities have the power to fully implement policy, as defined in EU legislation. ECB decisions on macroprudential policy may only increase requirements above the framework of national authorities’ decisions. In other words, the ECB may intervene only in cases where it considers that the national authority has not acted sufficiently, but it cannot cancel or moderate national authorities’ decisions.

The current settings for each instrument can be found in the Financial stability instruments section. Financial Stability Reports, Macroprudential Commentaries, Analytical Commentaries and Research Studies are published in the Financial stability publications section. Selected indicators related to financial stability are published in the Data section.  About financial stability section contains general theoretical information.

Other systemically important banks (O-SIIs) are banks, which are relevant to domestic financial system and to domestic economy. Default of O-SIIs can significantly disrupt safe functioning of the financial sector and thus have negative consequences also for the real economy. For this reason, it is possible under the macroprudential policy to require O-SIIs to hold additional capital buffers, which should contribute to a higher resilience of these institutions and thus to strengthen financial stability. For the Slovak banking sector, the EBA methodology has been used to identify O-SIIs. Given the characteristics of the Slovak banking sector as well as the domestic economy, O-SIIs are required under decisions of NBS to hold additional capital buffers from 1 January 2016. More detailed methodological information is available here. The list of identified O-SIIs and the O-SII buffers rate for individual O-SIIs are reviewed annually.

The NBS stopped to release its own exchange rates list after the euro entry on January 1, 2009 and began publish daily exchange rates of the European Central Bank on its website. The exchange rates are published in the Slovak language. Substantial difference between previously published exchange rates of the NBS and current ECB´s list is that it is published in the afternoon, after 16.00 p.m. and it is valid for the given day whereas the NBS was publishing the exchange rates one day in advance.

It is a payment between different banks, available online 24/7/365 (or 366) days a year, in which the funds are credited to the recipient's account within seconds.  

This is a new service (Target Instant Payment Settlement) for instant payment settlement operated by the Eurosystem.

The introduction of instant payments brings benefits for both consumers and businesses. Consumers can make instant payments for goods and services to traders and to each other. Including across borders within 26 European countries. They allow entrepreneurs to manage the company's liquidity more efficiently and minimize the need for external financing, e.g. using loans. Over time, instant payments will be able to reduce the share of card or cash payments.

The fundamental difference is in the processing and settlement of instant payments. Standard payments are processed several times a day, in batches, their clearing and settlement will take place within the end of the day. Therefore, the beneficiary at another bank will have the funds available until the next business day. Instant payments are processed individually, i.e. once the bank detects that it is an instant payment, it is processed and settled in real time. The recipient has the funds in the account available immediately, within a few seconds.

The introduction of instant payments is currently voluntary for banks, depending on their decision when to join the system. The legislation introduces an obligation for banks in euro area countries (including Slovakia) to introduce  the provision of an instant payment service by 9 January 2025 at the latest and an instant payment service by 9 October 2025 at the latest. In other European countries, instant payments in euro will be available two years later.

Instant payments can be used by all clients: natural persons, entrepreneurs, large corporate clients and public institutions. The only condition is that both the payer's bank and the payee's bank provide instant payment processing.

The amount of the client fee for instant payment is determined by the bank, but it should not be higher than the bank charges for a standard SEPA payment.

This depends on the business policy of the banks.

The maximum amount of instant payment today is €100,000. However, banks can individually set a lower amount as the maximum, for example €5,000, but always only on the side of the bank that sends the money.  

Instant payments can only be sent in euros.

The form of whether the payment will be made in a standard way or immediately will be up to the client's decision

As this is a voluntary service, the number of banks providing instant payments is growing gradually. As of 23/10/2024, there are 2,510 of them, which represents more than 70% of all payment service providers from 32 European countries. In Slovakia, these are Slovenská sporiteľňa, Tatrabanka, VÚB Banka, J&T Banka, Fio banka and Prima banka. A map of countries can be viewed on the website of the European Payments Council.

Although many countries have introduced instant payments a long time ago (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland...), they can only be made at home and in their home currency. SEPA instant payments, which are in line with the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme, in which Slovakia also participates, operate only in the euro currency, but cross-border. In practice, if a British or Danish bank is part of the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme, this bank is also able to accept payments in the euro currency and the Slovak client can send an instant payment from an account in Slovakia to an account in this foreign bank. More information about the countries that use SEPA instant payments is available on the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer page.

Today’s world needs payments to be faster as everything around us goes digital. At the same time, it was necessary to standardise the provision of instant payments in euro across different countries in order to avoid providing this type of payment only at local level. Clients can thus make payments in euros in real time, even across borders. There is no difference in the speed of payment within Slovakia, or, for example, from Slovakia to Portugal. The only condition is that both banks are part of the instant payment scheme.

This depends on the individual decision of the banks. However, the principle applies that if a bank provides instant payments, it must allow the client to initiate them through the same communication channels as it allows for initiating standard SEPA payments.

Payment services provided electronically should be provided securely using technologies capable to guarantee a secure user authentication of the user and minimizing the risk of fraud. As fraud methods are constantly changing and the volume of fraudulent transactions is constantly increasing, the requirements for strong customer authentication should allow innovation in technical solutions in response to emerging threats to the security of electronic payments. Thus, strong customer authentication of the user is applied in practice by using two or more authentication elements from the following three categories when performing electronic payment operations on the Internet: a) knowledge - e.g. password, PIN, answers to agreed control questions, b) ownership - e.g. ownership of a device (usually a mobile phone) capable of generating (e.g. via a specialized authentication application) or receiving one-time passwords (e.g. via SMS) or signatures (tokens), c) characteristics of the payment card holder (inherence) - e.g. capture of biometric data in the form of fingerprint, voice, the geometry of the client's face. The individual elements should be independent of each other and designed in such a way that the disruption of one element does not impair the reliability of the other elements. Strong authentication, therefore, means that payment service providers that allow users to carry out payment transactions on the Internet are obliged to authenticate (verify the identity of) the payment service user with each payment through at least two of the above categories. If the identity of the payment service user is not correctly verified and does not fall under any of the exceptions to the strong authentication obligation, the payment will be declined. The transition to strong authentication of payment service users has been taking effect since 14 September 2019. The NBS and other supervisory authorities in the EU have agreed that in card transactions on the Internet (e-commerce payments) the fulfilment of this obligation will be supervised and required from 1. 1. 2021.

You will find a clear answer in the following opinion here.

A list of all licensed payment and electronic money institutions is maintained by the European Banking Authority and is available here.

This is an issue addressed by § 8 sections 1 letter a), § 12 section 2 letter a) and §20a sections 1 and 2 of the AML Act. We recommend proceeding in accordance with the opinion of the National Bank of Slovakia and the methodological instruction of the Financial Intelligence Unit .  

You will find a clear answer in the following opinion here.

This issue falls within the competence of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. We attach relevant information here.

You will find a clear answer in the following opinion here.

You will find a clear answer in the following opinion here.

You will find a clear answer here.