Seminars

Online fraud is no longer a marginal risk, but a structural challenge at the heart of the EU’s digital landscape and the fastest-growing form of organized crime.

Digital money is moving rapidly from experimentation to real-world adoption, reflecting the potential for increased efficiency and competitiveness. Beyond stablecoins, the emerging landscape also includes tokenised bank deposits and central bank digital currencies, each having distinct implications for payments, financial intermediation and monetary sovereignty.

Still today, the European payments market remains fragmented. Most players operate solely at the national level and consumers depend on international schemes for cross-border transactions. Change is needed, as secure, efficient and low-cost cross-border payments are essential for the functioning of the EU single market, as well as for deeper European integration.

While the retail digital euro has attracted more public and regulatory attention, the wholesale dimension of central bank digital currency remains less visible – despite its high transformative potential. A wholesale digital euro could enhance the functioning of capital markets, support real-time and programmable settlement mechanisms, and open the door to entirely new forms of financial intermediation. Its implications may extend well beyond financial institutions, with tangible use cases that could directly impact citizens and reshape the broader payment landscape. 

Payment markets have  significantly transformed over the last few decades, both globally and at EU level. As consumer demand for digital solutions grows, innovations have surged throughout the EU’s retail payment ecosystem. New players have entered the market, while established ones are capitalising on emerging opportunities. Consumers now benefit from more choice, as well as a more personalised digital payment experience.

Financial markets have experienced heavy regulatory activity over the last 15 years – from crisis response and the founding of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), through to banking union, the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the launch of the Capital Markets Union (CMU), and more recently to the beginnings of the sustainable and digital finance agendas. This intense rule-making rollercoaster raises the question – what next?

On 7 February, 2024, the European Parliament endorsed the new instant payments proposal with an overwhelming majority. The regulation requires Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to offer their customers the possibility of making payments from one account to another within ten seconds – a significant acceleration of the process. The instant payment must be offered to the customer at the same price as a ‘traditional’ bank transfer.