A new payment system will be created in Europe under the auspices of 16 financial institutions from 5 EU states, TASS reports citing their joint press statement published on July 2.

“A group of 16 large European banks from Germany, Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands are working on the launch of the future European Payment Initiative (EPI),” the statement reads.

Primarily, the solutions will focus on instant payments, P2P in particular. The members of the initiative promise that the system will “become the new payment standard for European consumers and businesses in all types of transactions”, including payment in stores and cash withdrawal as well as international money transfers.

The statement notes that “digital payment solutions, currently used in Europe, are fragmented”, which is why European citizens cannot use them everywhere. The members of the initiative have highlighted the grown need for such a solution in the light of the quarantine-related crisis. According to them, the EPI system will not only remove a range of limitations but will also “contribute to strengthening of the common market and European digital strategy.”

“The beginning of the project will be marked by the opening of a temporary firm in Brussels in the next few weeks. It will define the tasks, in particular, completion of the technical and operational roadmap and the launch of installation of the system for the best possible consumer experience. EPI is scheduled to start working in 2022,” the statement reads.

The initiative includes BBVA, CaixaBank and Santander (Spain), BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Credit Mutuel, Societe Generale, La Banque Postale and BPCE (France), Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank and Sparkasse (Germany), KBC (Belgium), Unicredit (common European bank), and ING (the Netherlands).

The members of the initiative urge other financial organizations and payment services to join them until the end of 2020.

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