Türkiye is ​interested in joining the European Union's ⁠payments system, and related financial institutions ​are ​working on ⁠the issue, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Wednesday.

Fidan was responding to a question at a press ⁠conference about ⁠his talks with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and two other EU commissioners that took ⁠place on Tuesday in Ankara.

Türkiye and ​the EU have been ​holding talks about ⁠the bloc's 41-country ‌Single Euro ⁠Payments ‌Area (SEPA) that makes cross-border ​euro-currency payments ⁠cheaper, faster ⁠and more secure.

Users ⁠in far smaller Balkan candidates Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and North Macedonia, which adopted the scheme last ​year, could save up to 500 million euros ($568.7 million), the EU says.

Earlier this year, now-former EU envoy to Ankara, Jurgis Vilcinskas, said the bloc had pitched to Türkiye the idea that the candidate country could join SEPA to boost integration efforts and benefit those sending money abroad.