EPI Refreshed and With New Impetus

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) was established to build a unified pan-European payment system to rival Mastercard and Visa. Consumers and merchants would be able to use a card, digital wallet and make person-to-person (P2P) payments. The idea was backed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and 31 banks joined the EPI.

20 banks subsequently pulled out, including all Spanish banks and Germany’s Commerzbank and DZ Bank, because they could not agree terms for outside funding. Plans for a payment card were dropped at this stage.

The remaining shareholders – BFCM, BNP Paribas, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, DSGV, ING, KBC, La Banque Postale, Nexi, Société Générale and Worldline – have now been joined by ABN Amro, Belfius and Rabobank, and DZ Bank has re-joined.