Speakers
Objectives of the session
The ambition of the EU Commission has long been to build an efficient and integrated market for payment services in the EU. The aim was that citizens and businesses can make cross-border payments as easily, safely and with similar cost as they would in their own countries.
This led to working out rules (PSD2, MIF, …) and consumer protection arrangements that are the same all over the EU. This also led to reflecting on the appropriate infrastructures and technical standards required.
Eventually this reflection was complexified by the highly innovative context specific to the digitalisation of commerce, provided the internet, mobile-phone, and distributed ledger technology adoption, which suppose providing faster payments and accompanying ever widening choice of payment services.
The emergence of new payment service providers in addition to incumbent banks but also of powerful global players among which international card schemes and the so-called BigTechs requires making that all market participants are able to compete on fair and equal terms.
More recently the need to ensure a sufficient EU autonomy also reached to front of the stage.
The aim of the session is therefore to take stock on the EU retail payments strategy the objectives and identify the progress made and the necessary next steps including regulatory and legislative ones.
Points of discussion
- What is the actual momentum of instant payments in the EU and the challenges faced?
- What would be the definition, scope, and ambition of a European Retail Payment Strategy?
- What are the expected roles of the public (ECB, FISMA, EBA, DG Comp…) and private (national and EU level trade associations, individual banks, PSPs, …) sectors and the necessary regulatory initiatives to achieve the European Payment Strategy?