Electronic Promissory Notes – A Major Shift for the Financial and Legal System
As of 1 December 2025, Serbia will begin using electronic promissory notes through the Central Register of Electronic Promissory Notes (CReM) administered by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS). This reform transitions promissory notes from a paper-based system to a digital format, establishing a unified, secure and centralized platform.
- CReM will enable the creation, issuance, transfer and presentation of promissory notes for payment entirely in electronic form, without paper documentation or physical presence at a bank. Each electronic promissory note will be recorded in a register with the status of a public book, ensuring transparency, certainty and legal reliability in promissory-note transactions.
- Access to the system will be available through online and mobile banking using a qualified electronic signature (ConsentID). Extracts from CReM will be used in judicial and enforcement proceedings as public and reliable documents.
- Banks will be required to provide electronic promissory notes to all legal entities and entrepreneurs starting December 2025, and to natural persons by the end of 2026.
- Fees for electronic promissory notes will be lower than those applicable to traditional paper notes.
In parallel with the establishment of CReM, NBS has amended the Decision on the Method of Compulsory Collection from Clients’ Accounts, ensuring that electronic promissory notes have full enforceability within the digital framework. This introduces a comprehensive electronic regime governing the enforcement of promissory-note obligations — from issuance to compulsory collection.
- A payment instruction based on a matured electronic promissory note must be submitted to the debtor’s bank exclusively via CReM, and the bank must verify that the note has been submitted within the maturity period, that it contains all statutory elements, and that the payment instruction is formally valid.
- If the debtor has sufficient funds, the bank must execute the payment immediately. If funds are insufficient, the instruction shall not be partially executed; instead, it will be automatically forwarded to NBS for compulsory enforcement, with real-time electronic confirmation and data verification between the bank and NBS.
- A specific procedure applies to avalists: if the principal debtor fails to satisfy the obligation by 10:00 a.m. on the date of execution, the system automatically directs collection to the avalist’s bank in the amount of the promissory-note obligation (in full, or in the lower of two amounts where they differ). In such case, the instruction against the principal debtor is automatically withdrawn from enforcement.
- Banks are obliged to correct payment instructions submitted in error (e.g., incorrect data or premature submission), while creditors must maintain a separate record of collections and withdraw all unexecuted instructions following full settlement of the debt.
- These amendments establish a unified, fully digital and controlled enforcement system for promissory notes, with clear rules and verification requirements, ensuring enhanced legal certainty, efficiency and transparency in the realization of promissory-note claims.
For additional information or consultations, the Tasić & Partners team is at your disposal.