The much-needed evolution sets out to transcend traditional payment systems and do away with its problems in the process – namely lack of transparency, excessively long settlement times and poor interoperability among banking systems, especially across borders.
The EU project involves balancing the commercial considerations of banks and retailers with the sovereignty concerns of payment supervisors in a digital-first world.
With open banking systems already emergent and digital payments the hero of the post-pandemic recovery, it is a well-timed initiative.
Although the pandemic slowed the growth of electronic payments, Italy saw a 33% increase, driven by e-money transactions (+22%) and card transactions (+17%), especially contactless payments. The 2021 recovery relied on both e-money transactions (+22%) and card transactions (+17%), driven mainly by contactless payments.
“The EU is working to constantly improve the resilience and independence of the payment system, topics that are under the spotlight in our specific historical moment,” says Sergio Dalla Riva, Head of Product Development, Global Transaction Banking at Intesa Sanpaolo’s IMI Corporate and Investment Banking Division.