Brussels, 19/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - A "European Payments Council" (EPC) has been formed this week by the Federation of European Banks (FEB), the European Savings Banks Group (ESBG) and the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB). The goal is to prepare a "European payments area", adapted to new consumer demands since the introduction of the euro.
To begin with, the European Payments Council launched five working groups on the following subjects: 1) payment instruments to develop as a priority; 2) automation of the transaction process; 3) infrastructure for payment systems; 4) bank card systems; 5) cash payments. Initial results should be presented in the autumn.
Discussions will be on longer-term goals, like the possible harmonisation of automatic bank payment systems. "There are fifteen different systems today for automatic payments: deadlines for appeals may range from 1 day to 6 months, depending on States", notes the secretary general of EPC, Norbert Bielefeld. As yesterday's EUROPE mentioned briefly, Commission Frits Bolkestein welcomed the project of a "European payments area". He sees in it a response to the regulation on cross-border payments, which will men that banks will have to apply the same tariff for national and trans-national transactions from 1 July.