The EuroPA Started The Switch To Instant Cross-Border Payments
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The European Payment Alliance, also known as EuroPA, recently started a process of switching to instant cross-border payments between mobile transfer schemes Bizum, MB Way, Bancomat, and Iberia’s Sibs. The move will allow users in Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Andorra to use their mobile phone numbers to instantly send and receive money internationally.
Among the mentioned countries, Italy has Bancomat, Portugal has MB WAY, and Spain has a scheme called Bizum. They connect over 50 million users and 186 financial institutions spanning across Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Andorra. Now, thanks to the connection between the schemes, EuroPA will enable interoperability between these countries and their services.
MB WAY, Bancomat, and Bizum are also the leading mobile payment solutions in their respective countries. Together, they were responsible for processing over 2 billion payments last year alone. Not only that, but they hold a share that exceeds 65% of all instant payments conducted in the four nations.
In other words, these are major players in the mentioned countries, serving dozens of millions of users on a daily basis, and their interconnectivity will bring a major change in how money is transferred across their borders.
The Initiative Will Expand To Include More Countries In Time
Right now, EuroPA plans for all participating banks from the four nations to be fully connected with one another by June.
The Alliance has a similar goal as the European Payments Initiative, which is to provide a euro-owned payment system that can wrestle away control from US card brands, which have expanded to dominate payments around the world. Europe, on the other hand, would like something native to be used on its own territories, which is why these initiatives are being launched
Right now, the scope of the alliance is expected to continue to grow, and expand to include new use cases. In time, it will also expand to more countries, including those that use the euro, as well as those that run their own native currencies.
