SEPA for cash
30 January 24
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council nor the associations or its members he represents. Cash is the most frequently used form of payment by Europeans at the point of sale. For this reason, an adequate cash
10 December 20
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
27 October 21
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
20 April 20
European Central Bank’s (ECB) survey1 results show that cash was on average* dominant at the point-of-sale (POS) in the overall euro area in 2016, i.e. 78.8% of purchases were paid using cash. The EPC invited professionals working in the payments industry to share their views on how the future
27 January 23
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
07 October 21
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
26 July 21
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
23 February 23
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
01 December 23
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Finland is a European frontrunner in payment digitalisation, with e-invoicing particularly commonplace in the country – a likely trend anticipated to happen in the res
16 March 22
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
14 April 22
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
11 January 23
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
27 September 21
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
19 February 24
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
28 July 23
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
20 January 23
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
28 November 22
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
22 July 20
*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 second quarter of 2020, we gathered a list of recent and free reports that shine a spotlight on the future of payments, open banking and other intere
14 April 20
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
06 September 21
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
22 October 20
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
30 March 23
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
13 April 21
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
25 July 22
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