Payments Europe wants to present European payments industry

Payments Europe is a new association, formed by European and global card-based payment solution providers. The new organization wants to present the industry’s common views and advocate for a fair regulatory environment in Europe.

Payments Europe is currently formed by 13 card issuers, card acquirers, card schemes and other stakeholders active in the world of card-based payment solutions. Companies like BNP Paribas, Deutsche Kreditbank, Mastercard and Visa are involved.

‘We want to stimulate payments industry in Europe’

The new association wants to “stimulate a dynamic, competitive and consumer-centric payments landscape in Europe”. It also wants to promote a better understanding of the “complexity and inherent value the four-party card scheme business model brings to all parties in the payment ecosystem”. All in all, it wants to represent the card-based payments industry in Europe.

First time industry comes together in an association

“This is the first time that the European and global card-based payments industry is coming together in an association to present a common view to EU policy-makers about the issues that matter to our industry”, board member Kurt Gjesten from Card Payment Sweden, says. “We are confident that our new association will be able to make a real contribution to upcoming EU policy debates.”

In 2017, there were nearly 70 billion payments done by cards in the European Union. They are, by far, the most widely used electronic payment instrument in Europe, accounting for over half of all cashless transactions. Of course, more and more alternative payment solutions have entered the market, but card payments are still one of the fastest growing cashless payment methods.