Brussels, 06/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 11 January, the European Commission is to present a Green Paper seeking the views of stakeholders on the obstacles hindering further integration in the European market for card, internet and mobile payments.
The Green Paper will open a public consultation exercise on this matter until 11 April 2012. It will present the situation of payments by card, internet and mobile phone in Europe and identify the shortcomings that prevent a fully integrated payments market.
The aim of the Green Paper is to help the Commission define the best way to promote integration and ensure effective competition in these promising payment technologies. The main issues identified in the Paper and on which the Commission is seeking views are: - market access and entry for existing and new service providers, payment security and data protection, transparent and efficient pricing of payment services, technical standardisation, and inter-operability between service providers.
In the EU, over 700 million payment cards are in use, and the number of smart phones is increasing at a dramatic rate. (LC/transl.jl)