The EBA CLEARING has announced that it will launch a taskforce to examine the requirements needed to create a pan-European instantpayment processing service that could be potentially functional by 2018.
The new task force is addressing concerns raised by the ERPB(Euro Retail Payments Board) and the ECB (European Central Bank) around marketfragmentation for euro processing offerings only, where the emergence ofmultiple national solutions like the UK’s Faster Payment system and the lack ofany pan-European initiative would indeed lead to a fragmented situationcontradicting the achievements made through SEPA. Furthermore, the ERPBsuggests that there should be at least one pan-European instant payment solutionfor the euro open to any payment service provider (PSP) in the EU.
Commenting on the announcement, Erkki Poutiainen, chairmanat EBA Clearing said, “We have resolved to contribute to the supply side effortthat a Europe-wide move to instant payments will require and we feel that apan-European collaborative effort is the best way forward to respond positivelyto the call for action by the ERPB and the ECB.”
The announcement follows increasing industry support andinterest in instant payment processing services and should help push for thecreation of a broadly available European platform in the near future however itis important to note that financial messaging network Swift is also consideringa cross-border system after recently winning a contract to provide a system inAustralia with partner, Fiserv.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments for Mercator Advisory Group
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