Pierre Petit, deputy director general (payments and market infrastructure) of the European Central Bank, has outlined the ECB’s views on European retail payments. He made his remarks at the EPCA Summit 2014, where he defined the role of the European Retail Payments Board (ERPB) and the follow-up on the SecurePay recommendations on access to payment accounts.
New players to be part of drive towards integrated European payments market
The ERPB is to become a forum for driving the further development towards an integrated European payments market in the post-SEPA situation. Petit confirmed that the first meeting of this group is to take place in May, and new industries such as e-money providers and payment services institutions are to join in these discussions, along with other representatives of both consumers and providers.
The ERPB will aim to further stimulate the development of the European retail payments market by working together on topics such as innovation and integration. The group will identify and address strategic issues and work priorities, including business practices, requirements and standards. Issues could include the development of a single e-mandate solution or the improvement of interoperability between national e-payment schemes.
Security requirements for payment account access services
The ECB announced that it would this month publish the responses and the results of the consultations on security for payment access to the accounts. The publication would be for information only, given that the European Banking Authority will be providing guidelines on security measures under the revised Payment Services Directive.
Although the ECB does not want to impose formal requirements as there is a risk that the EBA could take a different position, it is likely that the two-factor authentication model of the SecurePay forum will remain the norm for retail payments account access services and mobile payments.
