Document library

The European Payments Council (EPC) published today a new version of the document called “Guidelines on cryptographic algorithms usage and key management”. Its purpose is to provide guidance to the European payment industry in the field of cryptographic algorithms and related key management issues.

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) published version 3.0 of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to-Pay (SRTP) Implementation Guidelines (IGs). These IGs set out the rules for implementing the relevant ISO 20022 XML message standards based on version 3.0 of the SRTP scheme rulebook

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Currently, more and more companies talk about sustainability and are starting to take action to change their products to become more environmentally friendly and creat

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Netherlands has a fascinating and ever-changing payment landscape where card payments are increasing each year and are preferred over cash payments. We wanted to k

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 a profile of Lithuania. Lithuania’s payment service provider (PSP) community was among the first to adhere t

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Getting lost in the flow of new reports? During the last quarter of 2022, the EPC compiled a list of payment related reports that you can check out and download for fr

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 the United Kingdom (UK), and we interviewed Jana Mackintosh, Managing Director for Payments a

During the past two months, the European Payments Council (EPC) invited professionals working in the payments industry to answer the following question: “In your opinion, what are the most effective step(s) to make payments more sustainable”: The results were as follows:  The results show

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) is launching a public consultation on the draft document “Interoperability of mobile initiated SEPA (instant) credit transfers (MSCTs) based on Near Field Communication (NFC) or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)”. The consultation will run for ten weeks before a fi

In the newly published infographic, the EPC reports on how it fulfilled its main objectives in 2022. It has been a busy and rewarding year with several memorable achievements, including: 2313 payment service providers have already joined the SEPA Instant Credit (SCT Inst) scheme: 61% of Europe

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) publishes the overview document which includes the public consultation comments on the draft SPAA scheme rulebook as well as the related responses from the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Payment Account Access Multi-Stakeholder Group (SPAA MSG). This pu

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

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) is launching a public consultation on the extension of sections in version 1.0 of the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme rulebook about the usage of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). The consultation will run for a 90-calendar day period from 16 D

The European Payments Council (EPC) publishes today the SEPA Request-To-Pay (SRTP) related Application Programming Interface (API) security framework which lists the minimum security-related requirements applicable to the SRTP scheme participants using APIs, and whether they rely on the default EPC

The EPC Payment Scheme Management Board (PSMB) – the body responsible for the administration and evolution of the EPC Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment schemes will be renewed in 2023. In addition to the seats allocated to scheme participant representatives (maximum 22), three seats (includin

The SEPA Proxy Lookup Scheme Participants Group (SPL SPG) - the body responsible for the scheme management of the SPL service - will be renewed in 2023. The EPC invites all interested eligible candidates to apply by 31 January 2023. Who can participate? The call is open to all European Payment

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) publishes the yearly update of the “Payment Threat and Fraud Trends Report”. This report contributes to creating awareness on payment threats and fraud trends, and to help payment stakeholders decide on possible actions to prevent fraud. It provides an ov

The European Payments Council (EPC) is launching today a call for change requests for possible modifications to be introduced into the SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme rulebook v3.0. The call starts on 1 December 2022 and will run until 29 December 2023. How to participate? Stakeholders are k

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) publishes the first (v1.0) SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme rulebook. It consists of a set of rules, practices and standards that will allow the exchange of payment accounts related data and facilitates the initiation of payment transactions in the

The European Payments Council’s (EPC) Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) is the body responsible for the compliance function of scheme management. Three seats in the DRC (including the Chairmanship of the DRC) are available for “independent members”. The EPC invites all interested candidates to a

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

The European Payments Council (EPC) publishes today the third version of the SEPA Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme rulebook which takes into account the comments received in response to the three-month public consultation on the proposed change requests relating to the second version of the SRTP scheme

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

Today, the European Payments Council (EPC) has published version 1.1 of the 2023 EPC SEPA Instant Credit Transfer rulebook and related document on the SCT Inst maximum amount. This rulebook version replaces with immediate effect version 1.0 of the 2023 SCT Inst rulebook published in May 2022. It hig

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Nordic Payments Council (NPC) plays a critical role in the management of Nordic payment schemes. Newly appointed Secretary General Camilla Åkerman offers us her vi

The views expressed in the below reports are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Getting lost in the flow of new reports? During the third quarter of 2022, the EPC compiled a list of payment related reports that you can check out and download

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The European retail payments landscape has changed due to a multitude of reasons: innovation, regulatory developments, the Covid-19 pandemic and changing consumer hab

The multi-stakeholder group on Mobile Initiated (instant) SEPA Credit Transfers (MSG MSCT), which is facilitated by the European Payments Council, has developed a new document on the specification of Quick-Response (QR)-codes for Mobile (Instant) Credit Transfers (MCTs)  for submission to ISO (

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

Monei, a Spanish payment service provider just joined the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme. This is good news for this European Payments Council (EPC) scheme which registered its first participant in April this year. Other applications for participation are in the pipeli

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. In June this year, the European Payments Council (EPC) published the final version of the Standardisation of Quick-Response (QR) codes for mobile initiated SEPA (inst

This year is very special for the European Payments Council (EPC), which celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark this occasion, the EPC organised a conference on 16 June 2022 with the following theme: “Integrated, innovative and competitive European payments: a generation’s effort or a never-ending

As part of the development of the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme, the European Payments Council (EPC) selected PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Services S.r.l. (‘PwC Italy’) as Economic Consultant.  In June 2021 the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) invited the EPC to take up the r

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. The Polish payment landscape is characterised both by traditional practices such as cash, which remains one of the dominant methods of payment, and by innovation and d

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

The views expressed in the below reports are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Getting lost in the flow of new reports? During the second quarter of 2022, the EPC compiled a list of payment related reports that you can check out and downloa

The EPC now counts among its members one additional organisation: •    Fintecture (based in France) The EPC now represents 77 payment service providers and their associations. Two further organisations have the status of ‘associate member’.  

The European Payments Council (EPC) publishes today the default Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to Pay (SRTP) related application programming interface (API) specifications based on version 2.1 of the SRTP scheme rulebook, which becomes effective on 30 June 2022. It is important to menti

The European Payments Council (EPC) publishes today the final version of the Standardisation of Quick-Response (QR)-codes for mobile initiated SEPA (instant) credit transfers (MSCTs). This document standardises a payee- and a payer-presented QR-code for all types of MSCTs, i.e. all payment contexts:

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) is launching a public consultation on the draft rulebook of its new SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) Scheme and on a related document concerning a possible additional ‘premium’ functionality that would allow asset brokers to request a payment with transact

During the past two months, the European Payments Council (EPC) invited professionals working in the payments industry to answer the following question: “In your opinion, which proximity technology will see the largest adoption for instant payments at the physical point of interaction in the coming

We continue our series of articles for the 20th anniversary of the European Payments Council (EPC). This time we interviewed Rita Camporeale, EPC Vice-Chair. We wanted to hear her thoughts on European payments and more particularly on how the EPC has changed over the years, what lessons have been le

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) published its clarification paper on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to-Pay (SRTP) scheme rulebook which can be found in “related documents”.  The purpose of the clarification paper is to provide guidance and, where feasible, recommendat

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) is launching a public consultation on possible modifications to the SEPA Request-to-Pay scheme rulebook. The consultation will run for a 90-calendar day period from 25 May up to and including 26 August 2022. All interested stakeholders are invited to part

Today the European Payments Council (EPC) published the version 1.0 of the 2023 EPC SEPA payment scheme rulebooks. All 2023 EPC SEPA payment scheme rulebooks enter into force on 19 November 2023. To ensure planning security for all market participants, the publication of the 2023 rulebook versions f

The views expressed in the below reports are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. During the first quarter of 2022, we gathered a list of recent and free reports that shine a spotlight on payments’ future and trends as well as other interestin

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-to-Pay (SRTP) is one of the most recent European Payments Council (EPC) schemes. Sami Karhunen, CEO of the first scheme partic

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council.   Two years ago, the Brazilian Central Bank decided to launch Pix, an instant payment scheme that the bank developed, manages, operates, and owns. Since its lau

This year is very special for the European Payments Council (EPC), which celebrates its 20th anniversary. To mark this occasion, we have interviewed Javier Santamaria, who has been active within the EPC since its creation in 2002 and became Chair in June 2012. We wanted to hear his thoughts on Europ

In June 2021 the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) invited the EPC to take up the role of scheme manager for the development of a SEPA API access scheme related to payment accounts, in line with the requirements defined in the June 2021 report of the ERPB Working Group on a SEPA API Access scheme1(S