Retail payments strategy published

14 May 2021

The Eurosystem has put in place a comprehensive retail payments strategy to promote European retail payment solutions that are safe and efficient for society as a whole.

The strategy sets out the following main goals:

• support the creation of a pan-European solution for retail payments at the point of interaction (POI), covering physical shops and e-commerce;
• fully deploy instant payments, so that all individuals and businesses can send or receive money in real time;
• improve cross-border payments beyond the European Union, to help European businesses and citizens make and receive payments overseas;
• support innovation and digitalisation, including by harmonising electronic identity and electronic signature services for use in retail payments.

Finally, the strategy encompasses work on promoting the environmental sustainability of payment transactions and infrastructures, and on ensuring all Europeans have access to safe, efficient and convenient payments in view of the all-encompassing digitalisation process.

The new retail payments strategy webpage also briefly explains each element of the strategy and includes links to related news and publications.