205 results
Insight

16 November 22

European Commission's proposal for a regulation on instant payments

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. On 26 October the European Commission (EC) adopted a legislative proposal on instant payments in euro, fulfilling its commitment of the 2020 Retail Payments Strategy f

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About SEPA

The introduction of the euro as the common currency for millions of Europeans was a great advance in European integration, but it was just the first step towards European payments harmonisation.

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What is a payment scheme?

The payment schemes developed by the EPC are used by thousands of payment service providers (PSPs) in Europe to facilitate some 50 billion transactions each year.

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Mobile proximity payments

If you have ever tried to pay with your smartphone in a shop, you are familiar with ‘mobile proximity payments’. The smartphone is the device used to access payment details such as card information when executing a face-to-face transaction.

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Insight

28 September 23

Exploring FIDA: revised rules on financial data sharing access

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council or the European Commission. In June 2023 the European Commission put forward a proposal for a Regulation to further digitalise and improve competitiveness in the Europe

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Insight

18 September 23

What do the PSD3 and PSR mean for the payments sector?

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council or the European Commission. On June 28, 2023, the European Commission (EC) published a set of new legislative proposals, notably for a Third Payment Services Directive

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Our organisation

As a membership association, the EPC relies on the active contributions of its members with expertise in different aspects of payments.

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Insight

15 July 22

European Digital Identity

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The European Commission (EC) is now working on electronic identification (eID) and its further harmonisation across Europe as secure eID should be an essential feature

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Insight

22 October 20

The new Retail Payments Strategy for the EU

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative has been a key enabler for the integration of the retail payments market in the European Union (EU): the development of

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Insight

07 October 20

ECB takes steps to ensure pan-European reach of instant payments

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The European Central Bank’s (ECB) Governing Council, in line with the European Commission’s (EC) objectives, has taken an important move towards the full reach of inst

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Insight

09 September 20

EPI: towards a new European payment solution?

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. In early July a group of major European banks announced the launch of the European Payments Initiative (EPI) with the aim of creating a unified payment solution for co

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Insight

28 November 22

SCT Inst scheme – where are we now and where are we heading?

This time of the year is very special for the European Payments Council (EPC): the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant credit transfer (SCT Inst) scheme is celebrating its fifth anniversary! To mark this occasion, we are sharing the most significant achievements of the SCT Inst scheme, its oppo

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Insight

25 February 21

European payments: looking back and ahead

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The European payment landscape is going through a considerable transformation due to technological developments, entry by new actors and regulatory changes. We intervi

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Insight

20 September 22

The Irish payment landscape: a digital transformation

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. We continue our series of European payment landscapes with the profile of Ireland, and we interviewed Gillian Byrne Head of Payments, at Banking & Payments Federat

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Insight

21 December 22

SEPA Payment Account Access scheme: going beyond open banking

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Payment Account Access (SPAA) is the newest European Payments Council (EPC) scheme. SPAA covers messaging functionalities allowing th

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Insight

11 February 21

The opportunity for the LEI in 2021

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) is the body responsible for managing the implementation of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) - a unique global id

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Insight

16 March 22

Instant payments in Slovakia

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Since January 2022, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme has been in use in Slovakia, where three payment service providers (PSPs) have joined the scheme

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Insight

13 April 21

Empowering European payments with SCT Inst

The instant payments space had been gaining significant traction in recent years, and access to immediate funds has become paramount for consumers and businesses in particular in the current pandemic. We launched the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme almost three and a half years ago, a

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