18 Aug 20 @ 11:54

A group of 16 major European banks from five countries (Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain) paved the way for the future launch of the European Payments Initiative (EPI). ... read more

05 Aug 25 @ 16:58

Europe’s vast card payments market—processing trillions of euros annually—remains dominated by two American giants: Visa and Mastercard. Together, they handled over €7 trillion in European transactions in 2023, reinforcing concerns... read more

14 May 25 @ 10:16

A landmark stride in European payments infrastructure has been achieved as Italy’s Bancomat, Spain’s Bizum, and Portugal’s MB WAY initiate cross-border mobile transfers under the EuroPA (European Payments Alliance) umbrella.... read more

11 Feb 25 @ 11:54

Account to account (A2A) payments are making strides and 2025 looks to be the year they will truly take off. Between Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs) and other A2A solutions, apps... read more

11 Feb 25 @ 10:59

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has officially launched Wero, a mobile wallet and instant account-to-account payment solution, in Belgium. Following successful rollouts in Germany and France earlier this year, Wero... read more

14 Aug 24 @ 08:51

The French payments scene, particularly in the acquiring space, is shoring up a very stable outlook indeed. In March Credit Agricole and Worldline announced their partnership in creating a new... read more

14 Aug 24 @ 08:38

Reports coming out of Germany in recent months suggested that the German banks have lost patience with Giropay and its holding company Paydirekt GmbH. Shareholders of Giropay voted on the... read more

31 May 24 @ 13:27

Payment services innovation like Pay by Bank and Buy Now Pay Later are expanding the options for shoppers and merchants, giving competition to incumbent card issuers. Long-dominant card payment schemes... read more

21 Feb 24 @ 10:56

As Asian economic powerhouses join up their faster payment systems and Africa follows suit, Europe lags in confusion, directives, initiatives and strategies. James Wood asks why Europe can’t copy Asia’s... read more

14 Dec 23 @ 16:24

News that the European Payments Initiative (EPI) is set to purchase the Netherlands’ successful domestic instant payment player iDEAL – as well as Belgium’s equally successful Payconiq – comes at... read more

14 Dec 23 @ 15:45

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has announced the successful closure of the acquisition of the Dutch payment solution iDEAL and the Luxembourg technology provider Payconiq International as announced earlier this... read more

06 Jun 23 @ 12:42

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is in the news for three reasons: first launch of a pilot phase offer, a double acquisition and the addition of four new shareholders. At... read more

29 Dec 22 @ 04:17

The European Payments Initiative (EPI), launched to some fanfare in 2020, was supposed to offer a payments solution “catering and corresponding to European needs.” But as the EPI’s scope changes... read more

24 Aug 21 @ 09:05

Another day, another headline telling us account-to-account and instant, or “faster” payments are taking over across Europe. In March this year, Swedish account-to-account specialist Trustly said its payments volumes were... read more

24 Aug 21 @ 08:48

The last time banks and infrastructure providers in the European payments market tried to build a payments network capable of taking on the US companies that dominate the sector, they... read more

09 Jun 21 @ 04:24

It’s been four years since UK regulators fired the starting gun on Open Banking, followed closely by the EU and 36 other markets world-wide. As a major new study into... read more

23 Dec 20 @ 11:14

In a recent statement, EuroCommerce – the European retailers’ association – has welcomed the EU’s retail payments strategy (RPS) and plans for European banks to collaborate in a European Payments... read more

23 Dec 20 @ 11:13

Last year the European Central Bank said that it welcomed the European Payments Initiative (EPI), an initiative by some of Europe’s top banks to explore the development of a “rival... read more

18 Aug 20 @ 12:08

Major venture capital firms have invested heavily in new FinTech solutions that promise faster, cheaper international transaction clearing and settlement. But significant challenges remain before faster payments go global. PCM... read more