Publications and events

EMA at Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit 2024

The EMA is pleased to be supporting City & Financial Global’s third annual Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit taking place on 25th January 2024, in London.

The payments landscape has changed dramatically since the previous edition of this Summit. Technological developments, changing consumer behaviour, digital currencies, APP scams and money-laundering have all proliferated over the last year and continue to challenge traditional payment providers and the many new entrants to the markets. Keeping ahead of the curve of these developments has been a real challenge for the regulators. The Government has announced plans to reform the powers and regulatory perimeter of the Bank of England and the Payment Systems Regulator as the payment ecosystem becomes ever more complex and inter-connected.

Thaer Sabri, EMA’s CEO, will join a Panel on The future of digital currencies as a payment system.

EMA EMD-PSD Position paper

The EMA sent a letter to the European Commission on e-money for the purposes of considerations in the context of the review of PSD2. The paper addresses the status of e-money in comparison to deposits, and also in relation to payment accounts as well as other topics we touched upon during our conversations.

Read the letter here

Industry letter to ensure that IBAN discrimination no longer occurs

The EMA co-signed an industry letter addressed to the European Commission on IBAN discrimination:

“We urge policymakers and national competent authorities to take a new approach in combating the issue of IBAN discrimination – a practice that has been prohibited for nearly a decade, but which is still widespread across the EU and prevents consumers and businesses from making payments or getting paid. According to data collected by the Accept My IBAN initiative, every month hundreds of people complain that they can’t pay for their phone contracts, rent, newspaper subscriptions, electricity bills, gym memberships, or public transport. What is even more worrying is that in some cases, an IBAN starting with the ‘wrong’ letters can prevent consumers from receiving tax rebates, unemployment benefits and social security payouts.

“Unfortunately, the lack of enforcement, action and strategy to put an end to IBAN discrimination leaves consumers without access to basic services when moving to or purchasing services in another Member State. It also makes companies perceive the EU as a fragmented market where it is harder to do business. As an industry, we call for clear rules, concrete actions and cooperation to stop discrimination.”

Read the full manifesto here