Speaking at the Monnet Symposium, Tumpel-Gugerell emphasized that very often SEPA for cards is associated with the establishment of an additional European card scheme. However, SEPA for cards is about much more than that; it is about business rules and technical standards too.
Speaking at the Monnet Symposium, Tumpel-Gugerell said that SEPA is built on a third column too: SEPA for cards. Cards are the most commonly used payment instrument in the European Union, accounting for almost four out of ten transactions in 2008. Without the success of SEPA for cards, the project will not be complete. Very often SEPA for cards is associated with the establishment of an additional European card scheme. But SEPA for cards is about much more than that: it is about business rules and technical standards too.
She also highlighted that major efforts by individual card scheme providers are needed too. The following tasks are still outstanding:
· the effective separation of scheme management from processing entities in order to overcome barriers to entry and to contribute to fairer and greater competition between card schemes, as well as between processors;
· the charges or reporting requirements that some schemes impose on issuers and acquirers for transactions carried out with cards bearing their brand, even if it was not used in the transactions;
· the setting of the brand that will be used at terminals, without giving the retailer and/or cardholder any choice; and
· the rule that in cross-border transactions, it is always the interchange fee of the country of the merchant that applies.
She concluded by saying that “SEPA would be a great achievement with real benefits. But without an additional European card scheme, SEPA will remain an unfinished symphony”.
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