Tuesday 9th December, 2014

After meeting last week for the second time, the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB), a multi-stakeholder group chaired by the European Central Bank (ECB), has decided to step up work on the topics of instant payments in euro, and person-to-person mobile payments and contactless payments.

The ERPB has also issued a set of recommendations to address some remaining issues for the SEPA credit transfer and direct debit schemes. This includes moving to IBAN only and the harmonisation of payment standards between banks and customers.

It highlighted that it is concerned that the emergence of new solutions might end up creating a fragmented market in Europe for instant payments, similar to what existed in regular payments in the past. Instant payments, is defined as solutions available 24/7/365 and resulting in the immediate or close to immediate interbank clearing of the transaction and crediting of the payee’s account.

"Solutions for instant payments should avoid the ‘silo’ mentality of closed systems that don’t communicate with each other, and take advantage of the harmonisation and integration already achieved with the SEPA project," said Yves Mersch, member of the ECB’s Executive Board and chair of the ERPB. The development of person-to-person mobile payments in euro may depend significantly on the availability of instant clearing services, he noted.

The ERPB was created in 2013 to replace the SEPA Council.