Malta Today
"In October 2025, the European Union will mandate the implementation of Verification of Payee (VoP) — a mechanism requiring payment providers to check whether the account name entered by the sender matches the IBAN of the recipient, in real time. While this may appear to be a simple additional security step, the implications are far more structural."
Banking Exchange
"The European Banking Authority (EBA) has finalized a stringent set of rules requiring banks across the European Union to hold substantially higher capital reserves against unbacked cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. The new framework aims to harmonize capital requirements across EU member states and applies to banks holding crypto assets on their balance sheets. Under the rules, banks must assign a risk weight of 1,250% to Group 2b assets, which include unbacked tokens like Bitcoin and Ether. This means a €1 million exposure to such assets would require €12.5 million in capital reserves."
National Technology
"The head of digital identity at Visa has described the upcoming EU Digital Identity Wallet (eID) is as a “gamechanger” for payments and banking. The eID Wallet is a planned digital ID that can be used to authenticate and verify people for payments and banking. By 2026, each EU member state will need to deliver at least one version of the Wallet. The IDs are expected to be fully operational by 2027, with service providers mandated to accept them during the same year."
Tech.eu
"The European Payments Initiative calls on local providers to unite under a homegrown system, aiming to reduce dependence on Visa, Mastercard, and Big Tech wallets."
RBC-Ukraine
"Europe must get rid of its dependence on American and Chinese platforms like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Alipay and launch a payments revolution, stated European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, according to Business Today. Lagarde said that Europe needs to develop its own alternative to secure financial sovereignty."
The Global Treasurer
"The SEPA Instant Payments regulation, which took effect on January 9, 2025, has ushered in a new era for Europe’s financial ecosystem with the immediate requirement for all banks and payment service providers (PSPs) in the eurozone to receive instant payments. The defining feature of SEPA Instant Payments is the 10-second rule: transactions must settle within this timeframe, 24/7, across participating countries."
EU-Startups
"The European Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), formally known as Regulation (EU) 2024/886, represents an important step ahead for the EU’s payments ecosystem. By requiring Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to offer instant credit transfers in euros under clear and fair conditions, the IPR accelerates Europe’s shift toward real-time payments. Key Aspects of the IPR are detailed."
Europa
"To get a better understanding of evolving payment practices, the ECB has carried out surveys since 2016 to investigate the payment attitudes and behaviours of euro area consumers. This report sets out the results of the latest survey round, completed in 2024, and confirms that digitalisation is also affecting the way people make payments."
Gizchina.com
"A sweeping reform in European banking will revolutionize money transfers from January 2025. Under the new EU Regulation 2024/886, financial institutions in the Eurozone must enable real-time transfers for euros within ten seconds, ushering in a new era of seamless transactions."
European Commission
"Today, Montenegro and Albania advanced on their European integration path by becoming the first-ever enlargement countries to join the geographical scope of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) following the green light by the European Payments Council (EPC). As a result, the payment service providers of these countries will have the possibility to adhere to the various SEPA schemes, which is part of a separate process managed by the EPC."
PR Newswire
"Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., a global Fintech leader, announced the launch of its highly resilient and scalable managed service for connectivity, message processing and workflow management for instant payments. The Broadridge service supports real-time money transfers, operating 24/7/365, with transaction processing times of under 10 seconds from payer to beneficiary."
TechCrunch
It’s official: The European Union’s risk-based regulation for applications of artificial intelligence has come into force from Thursday, August 1, 2024.
ABA Banking Journal
"The European Union has adopted what it characterizes as the world’s first comprehensive law on artificial intelligence, which bans some uses of the technology while regulating others. The EU AI Act takes effect Aug. 1, although the beginning of enforcement for different parts of the law will be spread across the next six to 36 months."
Yahoo News
"The European Union has approved the establishment of the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI)."
Infosecurity Magazine
"The EU reached a provisional deal on the AI Act on December 8, 2023, following record-breaking 36-hour-long ‘trilogue’ negotiations between the EU Council, the EU Commission and the European Parliament."
Reuters
"The European Union's data protection watchdog on Wednesday called for stronger privacy safeguards in EU draft legislation to underpin a digital euro."
Electronic Payments International
"In October 2022, the European Commission proposed new legislation to make instant payment services available to everyone with a bank account within the EU. Proposals will likely be approved before the end of 2023. So, banks and payments service providers (PSPs) should plan to offer instant payment services to their EU customers by Q4 2024."
GlobeNewswire News Room
"Swapin, a licensed and award-winning crypto payment solution provider, has launched Dedicated IBAN. This innovative new feature allows users to seamlessly withdraw funds and make payments in their name, simplifying the entire crypto payments experience."
Reuters
"The European Union's banking watchdog urged stablecoin issuers on Wednesday to voluntarily comply with 'guiding principles' on managing risks and protecting consumers ahead of mandatory rules due in a year's time. The EU approved its Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) in April, the world's first comprehensive set of rules for trading cryptoassets like bitcoin and ether, and issuing stablecoins, a cryptoasset backed by a currency or asset."
Reuters
"The European Union on Wednesday proposed injecting more competition into the payments sector, giving legal backing to a digital euro, and preserving the role of cash as fewer people use coins and notes."
Reuters
"The European Union is due on Wednesday to publish draft rules that give legal underpinnings for a digital euro, if the European Central Bank decided to issue one in coming years."
PR Newswire
"This collaboration enables Flutterwave to give its African e-commerce merchants enhanced access to UK and EU customers, while Token.io leverages Flutterwave's presence in Africa to enable a Pay By Bank method for businesses in the continent."
Central Banking
"European Union member states gave the final stamp of approval to a regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), the world's first comprehensive set of cryptocurrency regulations. Tuesday's approval by the finance ministers of each EU member was the final stage in MiCA's approval process. The regulatory framework was first proposed in September 2020 and was approved by the European Parliament in April. The regulations will go into effect in phases starting in 2024."
Reuters
"EU antitrust regulators are seeking more information on Apple's mobile payment system, the European Commission said on Wednesday, a sign that the enforcer is looking to close any loopholes and boost its case against the iPhone maker. The EU competition watchdog last year accused Apple of restricting rivals' access to its tap-and-go technology, Near-Field Communication (NFC), used for mobile wallets, making it difficult for them to develop rival services on Apple devices."
Biometric Update
"The European Parliament appears ready to regulate biometric surveillance like a necessary evil in the bloc’s proposed AI Act. Tight and multitudinous draft rules for artificial intelligence have won resounding final committee approval and are ready for a plenary vote in about a month. After that, national governments will have the final say. According to reports, conservatives in the Parliament held out to the end with language that would make AI generally and biometrics specifically accessible to businesses and governments."
Europa
"Parliament endorsed the first EU rules to trace crypto-asset transfers, prevent money laundering, as well as common rules on supervision and customer protection. On Thursday, MEPs approved with 529 votes in favour to 29 against and 14 abstentions, the first piece of EU legislation for tracing transfers of crypto-assets like bitcoins and electronic money tokens. The text –which was provisionally agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators in June 2022- aims to ensure that crypto transfers, as is the case with any other financial operation, can always be traced and suspicious transactions blocked."
Reuters
"The European Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly backed the European Union's first set of rules to regulate cryptoasset markets. Parliament voted by 517 in favour and 38 against to approve the world's first comprehensive set of regulations for issuing and trading cryptoassets such as bitcoin."
Yahoo Finance
"Merchants in the eurozone area could be obliged to accept a digital euro if it is deemed to be legal tender, according to a paper set to be put before finance ministers later Monday and seen by CoinDesk. Giving the central bank digital currency, or CBDC, the same status as banknotes and coins would mean payments legally discharge obligations to pay, and with mandatory acceptance at full face value, the paper said."
Reuters
The European Union (EU) will consult the technology and telecoms sectors on whether tech giants like Alphabet Inc's Google, Meta, and Amazon.com Inc should subsidize network costs, according to a Commission document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Tokenist
“The EU is very close to agreeing on what it means to own digital assets. The Council of the EU is laying the groundwork for European digital identity (eID), which will serve as the EU’s digital wallet. What does that fusion look like? Consisting of 27 countries, the EU accounts for 447 million people. Although its nominal GDP has fallen in 2022 when the EU sanctioned Russia, it is still trailing behind the US at $18 trillion vs. $24 trillion, making it the third largest market behind China. It is, therefore, important when this economic juggernaut sets the rules of engagement on digital assets. The Council of the European Union is the EU’s governing body. As of Tuesday, the Council revised the regulation on the European digital identity (eID). This would be a personal digital wallet hosted on people’s smartphones like other apps. Across EU nations, the eID would follow common technical standards and compulsory certification. This would avoid standard/update fragmentation and security holes. However, this “Union toolbox” is yet to be developed. What would the eID wallet look like?”
