In recent years, Albania has become a new home for thousands of people from all over the world. According to Instat, at the end of 2025 there were 32,163 foreign nationals living in the country with a residence permit, 46.6% more than the year before, and more than half of them had come to work. Alongside them, a growing number of young people are choosing Albanian universities, where international students now make up 2.1% of all enrolled students.
We Albanians know this experience first-hand, because for more than three decades we were the ones working in Italy, Greece or Germany and setting aside part of our pay every month for the family we had left behind. That is exactly why we have put together this short guide, which explains how you can take care of three things every family living far apart needs, right here from Albania: sending money, receiving money, and paying your everyday bills as a resident of this country.
1. If you work in Albania: how to send money home
If your family lives outside Europe, for example in the Philippines, India, Egypt, Nepal or Bangladesh, you can use Ria Money Transfer at any EasyPay location. Ria’s network reaches more than 160 countries around the world, so your loved ones can collect the money at a Ria location near them. In Albania there are over 600 EasyPay Ria locations spread across the country, many of them open long hours and on weekends as well.
If the money needs to go to a European country in the SEPA zone, you can make the transfer directly from the EasyPay app, whenever it suits you, or from any EasyPay location. In both cases, all you need is your own ID document and the recipient’s details, meaning their full name exactly as it appears on their ID, their country and their city.
2. If you study here: how to receive money from your family
For students, the process works the other way around: your family sends the money from their country, and you can receive it either directly in the EasyPay app, without having to leave home, or at any EasyPay Ria location by showing your ID and the transfer code the sender gives you. This way, your rent, books or tuition fees can be paid on time, without waiting days for a bank transfer.
3. Your monthly bills as a resident of Albania
Just like any other resident, you have bills to pay every month, such as electricity, water, internet and phone, as well as mobile top-ups, local taxes or the occasional traffic fine. With EasyPay you can pay more than 100 of these services, choosing whichever way suits you best.
If you prefer to pay in person, you can visit one of more than 600 EasyPay locations found in every city, mostly in the shops and stores of the neighborhood where you live. If, on the other hand, your work or study schedule leaves you no time, you can make the same payments from the EasyPay app, at any hour and from wherever you are, without asking for time off work or interrupting your plans.
Getting started
The first step is to download the EasyPay app from the App Store or Google Play and then register online in two minutes. You can find the nearest location on easypay.al, if you haven’t already spotted the orange signs in the area where you live or work, and ask the agent about the fee for each transfer.
Keep in mind that EasyPay is an electronic money institution licensed by the Bank of Albania and, since 2016, the official partner of Ria Money Transfer in Albania. This means that every transfer and every payment you make is recorded and can be tracked, so your money arrives safely where it needs to go.
Albania knows very well what it means to be far from home and to think every day of the people you left behind, which is why we are here to make that distance feel a little smaller.
