EU and Cross-border payments
EU and Cross-border payments
Context
Building an efficient and integrated market for payment services has been a longstanding goal of the European Union (EU) as well as globally. The aim is to enable citizens and businesses to conduct effortlessly and securely, cost effective domestic and cross-border payments.
In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, new market developments demand our attention. The ever-increasing digitalization of commerce, driven by the internet, mobile phones, and distributed ledger technology, is reshaping payment ecosystems. Additionally, we witness the emergence of new players, including payment service providers, BigTechs, and digital currency providers, alongside traditional banks, and international card schemes.
Ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of financial infrastructures, crucial components of the domestic, regional, and global financial web, is of paramount importance also to maintain financial stability.
Moreover, the EU’s payments strategy now places emphasis on securing a sufficient level of autonomy to safeguard transaction continuity and cost efficiency. Central Banks in this respect are also accelerating Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) projects to maintain accessibility and usability of central bank money in digital environments. Furthermore, CBDCs serve to support monetary sovereignty while mitigating risks associated with external digital assets, aligning with the strategic autonomy objectives of the EU.
To achieve the vision of improved and more integrated EU payment services, common rules and consumer protection arrangements must be established across the EU. Achieving harmonised and balanced economic and financial rules for the diverse partners involved in the payment value chain, is equally critical, as is ensuring a level playing field for all market participants. In parallel reflecting on the appropriate infrastructures becomes essential amid significant changes in the payment environment.
Recent developments, such as the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), ISO 20022 adoption, SWIFT Global Payment Initiative, TIPs or EPI initiatives, forthcoming regulation on the digital euro, and customer authentication enhancements, necessitate all careful consideration.
In parallel, a steep improvement of cross border payments in the global context requires multipronged efforts the FSB and CPMI are conducting following related roadmap.
Simultaneously, EU’s commitment to improve its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) approach will remain unwavering. Recent money-laundering scandals across the Union have highlighted the need to address structural deficiencies.
Eurofi documents
Extracted from the main Eurofi publications (Regulatory Updates, Views Magazines and Conference Summaries)
Panel discussion summaries
PSD2 review priorities - Stockholm High Level Seminar - April 2023
Cross-border payments and global infrastructures - Stockholm High Level Seminar - April 2023
Instant payment attractiveness for EU citizens - Stockholm High Level Seminar - April 2023
Eu retail payment Landscape: prospects and challenges - Prague Financial Forum - September 2022
Eurofi Views Magazine chapters
Global payment infrastructures and cross-border payments - September 2023 new
Denis Beau - Banque de France | Susana Delgado - Swift | Dirk Bullmann - CLS Bank International | Beatrice Larregle - Visa Europe
PSD2 review priorities - April 2023
Ondřej Kovařík - European Parliament | Nils Friberg - Ministry of Finance, Sweden | Juan Orti - American Express | Joachim Schmalzl - Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV)
Cross-border payments and global infrastructures - April 2023
Julian Reischle - Deutsche Bundesbank | Isabel Schmidt - BNY Mellon | Marc Bayle de Jessé - CLS Bank International
Instant payment attractiveness for EU citizens - April 2023
Giuseppe Grande - Banca d’Italia | Tim Hermans - National Bank of Belgium | Marianne Demarchi - SWIFT | Perrine Kaltwasser - La Banque Postale
Global infrastructures and cross-border payments - September 2022
Ulrich Bindseil - European Central Bank | Tara Rice - Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures | Piero Cipollone - Banca d’Italia | Charlotte Hogg - Visa Europe | Marc Bayle de Jessé - CLS Bank International | Thierry Chilosi - Swift
EU retail payment lanscape - September 2022
Burkhard Balz - Deutsche Bundesbank | Stéphanie Yon-Courtin - European Parliament | Massimiliano Alvisini - Western Union | Brett Loper - American Express
Cross-border payments: success factors and challenges - February 2022
Ulrich Bindseil - European Central Bank | Burkhard Balz - Deutsche Bundesbank | Marc Bayle de Jessé - CLS Bank International | Massimiliano Alvisini - Western Union | Brett Loper - American Express | Thierry Chilosi - SWIFT
Instant payments and EPI - February 2022
Burkhard Balz - Deutsche Bundesbank | Tuomas Välimäki - Bank of Finland | Piero Cipollone - Banca d’Italia | Eric Tak - ING Group