194 results

SEPA for cash

The SEPA project and the EPC’s drive to improve payments harmonisation and innovation in Europe both encourage a shift from cash to electronic payments.

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News

10 December 20

Understanding the cash cycle

The European Payment Council (EPC) published today a brief public information paper titled “Understanding the cash cycle for banknotes: a high-level description of the generic model and some observations” which was created by its Cash Efficiency Working Group (CEWG), aiming to provide a high-level d

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Insight

27 October 21

Smarter access to cash in Belgium

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. We interviewed Kris De Ryck, CEO of Batopin to learn more about the Batopin initiative in Belgium and what were the key drivers for such a decision.  Could you

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What we do

The EPC designs and manages euro payment and payment-related schemes that contribute to the creation of a single payments market in Europe and facilitate economic exchanges in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) for citizens and businesses alike.

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EPC contribution to a SEPA for cards

When citizens travel in Europe or shop online on websites based in other European countries, they should be able to withdraw cash or pay by card as easily as they do in their home country.

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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

27 January 23

How Lithuania’s payment landscape is changing

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

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Insight

07 October 21

Digitalisation trends in the Swiss payment landscape

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. We interviewed Dieter Goerdten, Head of Products & Services at SIX BBS Ltd. and Michael Montoya, CEO of SIX Interbank Clearing Ltd. to know more about the latest u

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Insight

26 July 21

Digital payments in Cyprus

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Although electronic payments are gaining popularity in Cyprus, cash is still king. Nevertheless, there are clear signs that the Cypriot payments landscape is entering

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Insight

23 February 23

How the Dutch became the frontrunners in payment transformation

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

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SEPA Direct Debit

The two EPC SEPA Direct Debit schemes offer consumers and businesses a convenient and secure means of paying bills. They are used to facilitate over 20 billion transactions every year in SEPA.

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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

14 April 22

Pix: the rapid development of instant payments in Brazil

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

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Insight

27 September 21

The changing Canadian payments landscape

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Over years and even decades, we’ve witnessed growing changes in the way Canadians pay. The payments ecosystem is rapidly evolving. Canada’s economic and financial welf

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Insight

19 February 24

Introducing a new EPC member: PostePay

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. At the start of 2024 we were delighted to welcome a new member: PostePay. We spoke to PostePay’s General Manager, Laura Furlan, about payment trends, PostePay’s role w

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Insight

28 July 23

Payments in wartime: the story of the National Bank of Ukraine

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Ever since, martial law has made ensuring the country’s economic and financial stability a challenge for the National Bank

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Insight

20 January 23

The transformation of the UK payments landscape

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

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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

14 April 20

AFR – the Hungarian Retail Instant Payment System

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. In order to improve the efficiency of domestic payments, Hungarian banks launched a local currency Instant Payment System (AFR) based on the SEPA Instant Credit Transf

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Insight

06 September 21

The investigation phase of the digital euro project is about to start

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. After analysis, experiments and input from citizens and professionals, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to launch the investigation

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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

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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