Seminars

As in many other industries, AI has great potential to enhance the efficiency of credit markets. It is increasingly used to provide tailored support to customers through robo-advice, develop innovative products, and to monitor and reduce fraud. AI is also likely to transform credit scoring processes, a key element of the assessment of consumers’ creditworthiness.

Data sharing has become a core component of well-functioning credit markets. For the market to remain healthy and effective under this evolution, the secure sharing of data is a prerequisite as more comprehensive and accurate data leads to better creditworthiness assessments. 

With the launch of an official digital euro, the ECB will enter into the uncharted territory of payment systems and bank accounts. This raises fundamental questions about the role of a central bank and the possible impact on the private provision of credit. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that retail client accounts with the ECB could become trigger for a new crisis. Before embarking on this ambitious endeavour, the ECB needs to stop and think twice.

The transformation of the retail payment services market in the EU has accelerated in recent years with the surge in electronic payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. This enhanced the importance of the legislative framework governing this market.

Every year an estimated 2 to 5 percent of the global GDP is being laundered. So far, anti-money laundering policies have seen limited successes. Meanwhile, the breadth and means to launder money have also increased, facilitated by technological progress.

From crime and drug-trafficking-related proceeds, the mandate to stop money laundering has expanded to now include tax avoidance, terrorist financing, human trafficking, state-sponsored and corporate bribery.

Retail payments are at the forefront of the digital transformation of financial services. Changing payment-processing interfaces, the introduction of crypto-assets and more recently, new payment instruments, are all shifting the traditionally cash-dominated retail payment landscape.