Integration of Retail Banking in Europe: New Technologies. New Opportunities?

New technologies change retail banking. For consumers such technologies allow the conduct of financial transactions regardless of location and time. For banks, information technologies improve productivity as well as revenues.

The technological developments over the past decades have opened the horizon for wholly new services and distribution channels. Mobile and online banking are recording rising numbers of users across European Member States. Innovations such as e-money and electronic wallets could pose new problems for regulators and open opportunities for non-bank institutions to offer financial services.These developments will affect competition in banking as well as the integration of the European consumer credit markets.

In this workshop at the European Credit Research Institute, we discuss the latest technological developments in retail banking as well as their implications for regulators and consumers. Together with policymakers, industry officials and consumer advocates we discuss the challenges, risks and chances of technology adoption and the perspective of integration across Europe. The workshop will take place on 7 February 2008.