Europe has “established” acomprehensive payment strategy.” shared by European Central Bank The (ECB) aim of this week is to support four objectives:
- To ensure the effectiveness of monetary policy, financial stability and the smooth functioning of payment systems by maintaining the role of central bank money as the anchor of the two-tier monetary system,
- Achieve strategic autonomy and increased flexibility for European payments,
- Promoting an integrated, competitive and innovative payment ecosystem and
- Supporting the international role of the euro.
The payment strategy aims to develop a market for tokenized payments while investing in distributed ledger technology (DLT-Blockchain) for wholesale payments.
The strategy aims to preserve the role of central bank money. With the digital euro project, the Eurosystem is said to be adapting central bank money to the digital age.
It is predicted that cross-border transfers will become faster, cheaper, more transparent and inclusive.
Regarding stablecoins or privately issued payment digital assets, Europe notes that properly designed stablecoins that comply with MiCA and AML compliance also serve the objectives of the payment strategy.
Arjeh van OijenHead of Product Management Icon SolutionsHe says the ECB’s payments strategy is a clear recognition that Europe’s payments environment must evolve quickly to maintain reliability and flexibility. It also needs to support technologies such as tokenized assets and stablecoins.
“What stands out is the focus on consolidation. In the midst of rapid change, payments can no longer sit in silos, whether retail, B2B, domestic or cross-border. Consolidation of payment processing infrastructures is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for competitiveness in a market where speed, security and scalability across all payment types are increasingly non-negotiable,” says Van Oijen.
He believes the real challenge is execution. Will Arzu be able to create a payment solution in a short time? This requires a solution that can be adjusted or extended without being dependent on a vendor, says van Oijen.
“Only in this way can banks control their own destiny.”
