The European Commission intends to transform consumers’ payment experience through its recently published Instant Payments Directive proposal by making instant payments widely available and affordable. Instant payments transfer credit in real time, thus fostering innovative payment solutions and releasing funds. They could contribute to the development of homegrown cross border European instant payment solutions.
However, the uptake of instant payments in the EU is still low and the Commission proposal requires important investments in infrastructure to improve the levels of interoperability needed for cross-border instant payments. Alongside this, ensuring transactions are safe and secure is fundamental to drive consumer demand.
The panel will discuss the state of play regarding the promotion of instant payments and will address several questions, including: do Payment Service Providers have enough time to adapt? Is there a need and market demand for the initiative? Does the proposal guarantee sufficient consumer protection? What measures should be taken to gain user trust?
