banks
Europe-wide payment system EPI is threatened with extinction
The ambitious project of a European payment system EPI is about to end. Photo: Silas Stein/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A European payment method without European coverage? The EPI project has lost further important supporters. How things will continue is open.
The bank initiative EPI to set up a uniform Europe-wide payment system is threatened with extinction. With the final rejection of the DZ Bank and thus the Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken, the exodus of German supporters of the prestige project, which has been in operation since 2020, continues.
The Federal Association of German Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken (BVR) and DZ Bank as the central cooperative institute confirmed corresponding media reports on Wednesday. Despite a hard struggle “to find the best solution for the next joint stage”, “no common basis was found”: “DZ Bank and BVR declared at the end of the talks held among the German EPI stakeholders on Tuesday that on the basis of the According to the last proposal submitted by the EPI Interim Company on February 21, 2022, participation by DZ Bank for the cooperative financial group is not possible.»
Competitive offer to Paypal
The European Payment Initiative (EPI) was founded in 2020 by major euro banks from Germany, France and Spain, among others. They wanted to set up a uniform Europe-wide system that would cover card and smartphone payments in order to offer customers a competitive offer to powerful US corporations such as Paypal.
31 banks and 2 payment service providers participated in the EPI interim company. However, many supporters have since turned their backs. In Germany, only Deutsche Bank and the savings banks backed the project in recent statements, Commerzbank had already announced its withdrawal last year.
Most recently, the hopes of the industry in Germany that the costs for setting up the European payment system, which were estimated at around 1.5 billion euros, could be partially covered by state subsidies, were dashed.
Broad support needed
«The Savings Banks Finance Group has supported the idea of a European initiative for a common payment method in Europe from the start. We continue to stand by this objective, »said the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV). “However, the success of EPI depends to a large extent on the fact that there is broad support in the German market.”
According to participants, the banks from France, Belgium and the major Spanish bank Santander are firmly behind the project in Europe. There were also recent statements of approval from retailers. “We felt a lot of support for this project from dealers, customers and politicians in Europe,” summed up the DSGV. “If, contrary to our belief, EPI does not find the support of other important providers, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe will present its customers with other innovative offers.”