European Commission Promises to Legislate Instant Payments by Mid-Year

The European Commission has pledged to accelerate instant payments across the European Union (EU).

In a tweet and in an address to the 2022 Fintech and Regulation Conference, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness confirmed the panel will submit a legislative proposal on instant payments in the second half of 2022.

“We need this to accelerate the roll-out of instant payments in the EU,” she tweeted on Wednesday (Feb. 9).

No details were provided.

Last year, McGuinness pledged the EU payment strategy for the coming years, including open banking and instant payments, in a speech to the European Payment Institutions Federation.

See also: Europe Needs New Rules to Be Global Leader in Payments, Says EU Commissioner

At the time, McGuinness said the EU must be global leader in payments. From the beginning, the commissioner said she has stressed how much the payment sector has changed in the last decade as new types of companies have entered the EU payments market.

McGuinness continued with an unusual warning, saying that “the traditional lines between market players are becoming blurred,” and that while “more competition is not a bad thing, we need to make sure we address possible risks, protect consumers and maintain a level playing field.”

Joe Morley, vice president and general manager at open banking platform provider TrueLayer expressed support on LinkedIn.

“This can’t happen soon enough, so much efficiency is lost through the lack of implementation of SEPA [single euro payments area] Instant Payments in the EU,” he wrote.

“It needs to be ubiquitous and become the default option. There is no compelling reason why this cannot be the case. Technically the solution exists, it’s an adoption problem. European business deserves better. This is an easy win-win for cross border competitiveness within the EU, both for merchants and consumers. Side note: the UK have had Faster Payments since 2008.”