00:00She is breaking two barriers at once.
00:02Fadbarda Rino is the first woman to lead a bank in Albania.
00:06And that bank is the country's first fully digital one.
00:09JetBank has launched in Albania.
00:11It operates without physical branches and works entirely through a mobile app.
00:16Now we see a very good momentum for the banking system
00:21because there is a lot of changes happening with technology
00:25and the way that the people are reacting or expecting from the banking system.
00:35But Albania is tough terrain for online banking.
00:37Cash still dominates daily life.
00:39Now the government wants change.
00:41By the end of this year, all businesses must offer cashless payments.
00:45For me, I can use cashless payments when I am in my own house.
00:49I don't know if I can use cashless payments.
00:52I don't know if I can use cashless payments.
00:57Cash is familiar, but it also fuels Albania's shadow economy, which is huge.
01:03According to some economists, 30 to 40 percent of Albanian residents pay no taxes or social contributions.
01:09And so, the line between the shadow economy and money laundering is often blurred.
01:14The European Union is pushing for a reform and Albania is keen to comply.
01:18The country wants to join the EU by 2030 and digital banking is part of that path.
01:23Albania's central bank has now granted JetBank a license.
01:27There is a lot of interest in this new service.
01:29The next step is trust, convincing people that digital money is safe
01:33in a country where trust is still very much in hard cash.
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