377 results
Insight

04 November 20

Country profile: cashless Iceland

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Did you know that bank cards are ubiquitous in Iceland and that local banks are all involved in projects to increase public awareness on the importance of financial li

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Insight

23 September 20

Country profile: digital and instant payments are the norm in Estonia

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 Estonia. Estonia is a frontrunner for card payments, and its PSP community was among the first

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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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About us

We help make it possible for citizens and businesses to pay with the same ease and convenience across the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) as in their home country.

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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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SEPA Credit Transfer

A credit transfer is an electronic payment from one payment account to another. The SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme makes the transfer of money in Europe easy and convenient.

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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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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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Insight

19 November 20

The Nordic Payments Council is creating the new Nordic payment schemes

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) developed the first Nordic payment schemes, based on and close to the European Payments Council’s (EPC) Single Euro Payments Area (SE

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Insight

20 May 20

SCT Inst scheme gaining further traction in Europe

November 2017 marked a major event in an increasingly instant world: the launch of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst), which enables credit transfers in ten seconds – or less – across the SEPA. Two and a half years on, the scheme has grown significantly, and the

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SEPA goals and benefits

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a European Union (EU) payments integration initiative aimed at harmonising electronic euro payments in Europe.

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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

18 July 23

The Croatian payment landscape

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council. Croatia became the 20th EU Member State to join the euro on 1 January this year. Since the end of June, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme has been in

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