Banking & Post Office

OVERVIEW

Opening a bank account in Serbia can be a challenge if you don’t know a native Serbian speaker — not every branch counter speaks good English. But that doesn’t mean you should give up. Have a read and let’s see if you are a bit more clear on what to do.

BANKING

Serbia’s banking sector has consolidated a lot since the 2010s — a wave of mergers took the market from ~30 banks down to around 20 licensed banks (the National Bank of Serbia keeps the current list). Most are foreign-owned but operate as separate Serbian legal entities, and the big ones all have English-language websites and app interfaces.

The major retail banks expats actually end up using (as of mid-2026):

• Banca Intesa — largest by assets, big branch network
• OTP banka — absorbed Société Générale’s and Vojvođanska’s Serbian operations
• NLB Komercijalna banka — the former Komercijalna, now part of Slovenia’s NLB group
• UniCredit Bank
• Raiffeisen banka
• Banka Poštanska štedionica — the state-linked “post bank”, useful for official payments

If an older guide mentions Société Générale, Komercijalna, Eurobank, Direktna or Crédit Agricole as separate brands — they’ve all been merged into the names above or others. Don’t go looking for their branches.

Opening an account as a foreigner

• You can open dinar (RSD) and foreign-currency accounts; most people keep both, since rent is often quoted in euros but paid in dinars.
• Bring your passport and expect to be asked for your white card or residence card; requirements for non-residents vary noticeably between banks — if one refuses you, try another.
• Once you have residence, everything gets easier, including debit cards, standing orders and mobile banking.
• Expect in-person KYC questions about the source of your funds, especially for regular foreign inflows — normal, not personal.

Day-to-day banking

• Mobile apps and card payments are solid; contactless is everywhere in Belgrade, though smaller kafanas and green markets remain cash-first.
• Serbia’s IPS instant payment system (including IPS QR codes at tills) makes local transfers fast and free or near-free.
• Fintechs: Wise and similar services are handy for moving money toward Serbia, but coverage of RSD is limited and Revolut-style apps don’t fully operate here — for rent, bills and salaries you’ll want a real Serbian account.
• Watch FX spreads when converting foreign income; compare your bank’s rate against the NBS middle rate, and use menjačnice for cash.

For consumer-protection issues, the central bank runs a free financial consumer centre that handles complaints about banks.

POST SERVICE

The national post service is Pošta Srbije. They offer a great variety of services, including sending and receiving parcels, money transfers, payment of bills at the counter (still how many locals pay utilities), and more.

There are also several courier services for door-to-door parcels:

• Post Express (Pošta’s courier arm)
• FedEx
• DHL
• BEX
• D Express and City Express — common for domestic webshop deliveries

If you wish to receive or send money abroad without a bank account, Western Union and similar services operate through banks and post offices.