On Monday 2 February, the main European banking associations (‘EACB’, ‘EBF’ and ‘ESBG’) welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between several national payment solutions (Bancomat, Bizum, SIBS/MB Way and Vipps MobilePay) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI), aimed at speeding up their interconnection at European level by 2027.
In a joint statement, the associations point out that these solutions, developed and supported by the national banking communities, serve around 130 million users and are in line with the European objectives of instant payments, strengthening the Single Euro Payments Area (‘SEPA’) and improving the user experience.
“As representatives of Europe’s banking sector, we warmly welcome initiatives such as this Memorandum of Understanding, which strengthen European sovereignty, resilience and competitive innovation”, said the European Association of Cooperative Banks, the European Banking Federation and the European Savings and Retail Banking Group.
The promotion of these solutions, based on the scriptural money of commercial banks and on private payment infrastructures, comes at a time when EU institutions are drawing up the framework for a future public digital currency to be issued by the European Central Bank (see EUROPE 13797/21). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)