The Single Euro Payments Area: Can innovation be mandated?

Norbert Bielefeld, Deputy Director, Payments and Securities, European Savings Banks Group — World Savings Banks Institute

Abstract
The Single Euro Payments Area is an ambitious policy maker-inspired project to build a European Union-wide internal market for payments which will not only be efficient but can also be used as a springboard for payment innovation in the future. Self-regulation by the banking industry has delivered the foundations for pan-European payment instruments, yet their acceptance by the demand side is dependent on action by the European legislator. The latter may use this opportunity to legislate more than is necessary for achieving the migration from legacy, national payment instruments to the pan-European ones. In doing so, the legislator could lastingly affect market balances and actually jeopardise the competitiveness of the European payments industry on the international scene.

Keywords
SEPA, legislation, self-regulation, consumer protection, standardisation, interchange, innovation, competition

Norbert Bielefeld is Deputy Director, Payments and Securities at the European Savings Banks Group — World Savings Banks Institute. He started his career with Union de Banques à Paris. He moved to Clark Credit France as finance manager, prior to setting up Econocom Deutschland as finance director, and ECS International Belgium as managing director. At SWIFT, he was successively head of marketing and customer support, senior manager new network services, Director Payments Strategy and Director Banking Industry Initiatives. He joined ESBG/WSBI in 2001 to head Payments Systems, with responsibility for all payments topics from a European and worldwide perspect ive. His responsibilities were expanded in 2007 to securities markets. He notably represents ESBG on the ECB’s TARGET2 Securities Advisory Group and on the European Commission’s Market Infrastructure and Payments Systems Expert Groups. He served as elected Secretary General of the European Payments Council for its inaugural term (June 2002 to June 2004) and chaired the EPC Cards Standardisation Task Force. He is a member of the Global Payments Forum (Washington DC) on which Steering Committee he served several terms. Norbert is a graduate of ESSEC (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, Paris).

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