kind of interbank cooperation would not only serve to increasing the amount of payments channelled through banks, but also to enhancing the competition. another difficulty encountered in this context is the implementation of bank accounts direct crediting by the utilities. this has been due to the concentration of these companies in certain banks, and also because of the problems encountered in the standardization of the bills according to particular banks ’ requirements. the bank of albania continues to be committed to finding a solution to these problems. 3. the expansion of the atms and the pos ( point of sale ) automated teller machines ( atms ) experienced a further development over 2005 - 2006. most banks have established a number of atms in tirana and in other main cities throughout the country. the number of electronic terminals has grown from 93 at the end 2004 to 266 in august of the present year, while the number of users has increased from 34, 090 to about 295, 250. atms are used through debit cards, but credit cards are also being widely used. both visa and mastercard are actively being used in albania and most banks are members in one of them, providing the respective cards. although the use of cards is still limited, the growing number of service units accepting electronic payments ( pos - point of sale ) from 155 in december 2004, to 1073 in august 2006, and the gradual change of the attitude favouring the holding of cash will lead to the enhancement of the use of cards as a mean of payment. the service of electronic transactions ( e - banking ) as a banking product began four years ago, although it may be said that it has not reached satisfying levels as far as its introduction and the use by the public is concerned. so far, two banks have been providing this service to particular clients ( mainly businesses ) for the carrying out of transfers, different payments etc. over the present year, other banks have planned to provide this service. table 1 : number of cards and atm / pos cash cards 26, 736 173, 161. 00 220, 657. 00 debit cards 6, 552 50, 066. 00 70, 176. 00 credit cards 2, 550. 00 4, 245. 00 136. 00 169. 00 pre - paid cards total 34, 094 225, 913. 00 295, 247. 00 atm 205. 00 266. 00 ef / pos terminals 779. 00 1, 073. 00 4. the network and

the pandemic is over. however, recent developments show that the research agenda of the central banks have been enriched by the study of other risks, such as those related to climate change and environmental protection, demographic risks, digitalisation and digital currency. these have been identified as big and long - term challenges to both the global economy and the authorities of every country. the bank of albania has started to work on to establish the infrastructure for modelling and analysing these phenomena. it is crucial to not think of these topics only for the purpose of testing assumptions or academic discussions, but rather to consider them in the concrete framework of policy making and decision taking. i am confident these topics will become important themes for discussion themes in our research workshop in the future. i am hopeful for two - days of productive workshop interactions. i invite you to join the panels of presentations and become part of the fruitful comments and discussions! 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches