Wolfgang Ehrmann, Chairman of the Euro Banking Association (EBA), opened the first day of the 19th EBAday with a welcoming speech for all delegates.
Introducing the theme “Orchestrating the Dialogue on Payments – The Advantage of Collaboration,” Ehrmann praised the venue – Lisbon, Portugal – and reiterated how much the city and country have excelled in terms of digital transformation.
He explained that the challenge European payments must now grapple with is “leading SEPA into a new era of instant payments and digital transformation.” This is an obstacle that he believes is reflected in the event agenda.
Before kicking off the rest of the conference, Ehrmann said: “As we come together at EBAday and beyond, sharing our experiences, identifying common pain points and discussing the best solutions for the ecosystem, we are actually orchestrating the dialogue about payments and ultimately applying it. “ Dialogue on the practices and solutions of the new payment era.
Bank of Portugal National Strategy for Retail Payments
EBAday host keynote speaker Hélder Rosalino, board member of Banco de Portugal, described the central bank’s strategic vision and key priorities, established in collaboration with stakeholders.
Rosalino said: “We have observed a huge restructuring on the supply side of the payments market, with new players entering the market (fintechs and bigtechs) based on new business models and agile infrastructures, also offering non-financial services.”
“We have also seen the introduction of new technologies in payments, such as distributed ledger technology (DLT) and artificial intelligence (AI), which are used to detect anomalies and prevent fraud, increase the speed and security of transactions, etc can improve services for consumers.”
Rosalino also described Portugal’s journey to its current payments infrastructure: “This story is not new to any of us, but shows that the entire society and the payments ecosystem are evolving quickly and continuously.”
He then outlined the four main priorities of the Bank of Portugal’s National Retail Payments Strategy. These included promoting security in payments, introducing payee confirmation and the bank’s own SPIN product to combat fraud risks in an increasingly digitalized payments space.
In addition, immediate transfers are preferred. Rosalio explained that this goal is shared with the introduction of instant payments through the Eurosystem and with European co-legislators. “This regulation will certainly promote wider adoption of this payment instrument in Europe by ensuring its widespread availability, competitive costs and increased security.”
Ensuring an open and competitive market is also of utmost importance to Rosalino. He said the central bank ensures a level playing field between all companies and removes barriers to new entrants. In addition, the Digital Euro project will “put the European Union at the forefront of advanced economies when it comes to central bank money.”
The Future of Payments: Innovation and Collaboration
The first strategic roundtable of EBAday was moderated by Joy Macknight, journalist and editor, with Tsvetanka Nankova, Global Head of Sales, Institutional Cash and Trade Finance, Deutsche Bank, and Michael Reinwald, Head of Financial Institution Group Sales Europe, JP, participated Morgan payments.
“There will be more and more non-bank players in the payments market,” commented Reinwald. Nankova complemented this outlook by saying that “there will be more rails and new ways in which we will process payments, which will lead to more efficiency and more transparency.”
Macknight focused the conversation on discussing the future of B2B payments. Nankova explained that all stakeholders in the payments sector are focused on real-time, digitally enabled payments in every way, but from the Treasury perspective, she said: “We are using AI to power data-driven multinationals to enable them to forecast.” As their cash flows improve, they can ultimately better predict their payment terms.”
Reinwald added his observation on the topic, saying, “In the retail customer space, it was more about the shiny front end, onboarding, and usability. On the treasury side, it was about smoother operations and better investability. Now these words.” actually converge to some extent.
Nankova continued: “Technology will really improve and speed up settlement, but protecting the financial system from risk fraud will always be a priority.” Looking at the future of collaboration as an industry, Reinwald said that the future of collaboration “is changing a little “shifts”, which is more likely to lead to some banks joining forces and developing innovations together.
Nankova agreed with this point, explaining that correspondent banking will continue and settling payment transactions on the blockchain will only “lead to the creation of more islands, which is not what the industry needs. It needs more collaboration.”