NOA supports the conference with the theme "The future of FinTech: towards an inclusive and sustainable growth for the Western Balkans"

Organized by Innvest with the support of VISA and the financial institution NOA, the conference "The Future of FinTech: towards an inclusive and sustainable growth for the Western Balkans" brought together top-level experts in the field.

In a context of ever more intense competition in the provision of digital services, in particular in the financial sector, NOA is invested in maintaining a balance that manages to simultaneously guarantee the advantages that technological innovations bring, as well as the social dimension through the protection of a solid human relationship . It is precisely in this balance that the unique model of a #HumanFinance of NOA is rooted and that in 2023 managed to generate an increase in the active financing portfolio to around 85 million euros, or around 25% more than the year before.

Sponsor and participant in one of the panels of the "Future of FinTech" conference, NOA is positioned as a leading institution of the financial sector by intensively promoting the spread of innovations that increase access, transparency and the quality of financial services offered to entrepreneurs, farmers and Albanian families. 

With an extension of its activity in Albania and Kosovo, NOA uses different technologies to guarantee an adapted, fast and bureaucracy-free offer for every need of the entrepreneurs and farmers it serves. Biometric tablets for a 100% on-site application, 100% integrated digital communication channels, remote service guarantee for 100% of the cycle from application to installment payment, etc., NOA invests in solutions that do not alienate the social and human dimension of the relationship of trust that it creates with its customers, but that enable the creation of economies of scale and performances necessary to always guarantee a competitive service.

In this regard, in her speech, the General Executive Director of NOA Mrs. Herjola Spahiu said that "new technologies are vital to guarantee a social and responsible vision in the provision of our financial services. It is only thanks to them that we manage to guarantee the national reach that rural areas of the country require, with the speed of service that urban areas require. Technologies enable us to be efficient and social at the same time, since only in this way we analyze our products, the profitability and the needs of each segment in order to adapt our products more fully. Being FinTech for us means how to better serve our people, our clients and our staff. That's why we are not afraid of AI, of innovations, because the goal is not human replacement, but its strengthening".

In the closing speech, Mrs. Spahiu, also a member of the management board of the European Microfinance Network based in Brussels, added that "there is a need for public regulators to invest more in the promotion of new technologies so that the digital firm as an example is really recognized by the courts Albanian. The data generated by E-Albania help increase the digital score for financial services, but always guaranteeing the maximum protection of personal data. The educational system in Albania and Kosovo should invest more in the education of the new generation of IT specialists, since the needs of the market are very large and still unmet.

The year 2024 symbolizes for NOA the 25th anniversary of the beginning of its activity which dates back to 1998. Initially initiated by USAID and the American government, NOA is currently a financial institution licensed by the Bank of Albania and the Bank of Kosovo that exceeds 16,000 clients active and a team of 360 employees in Albania and Kosovo. For more information on this 25th anniversary, visit www.noafin.al.