Page 25 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Interoperability

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Interoperability

European Union

In Europe, the organized cooperation bodies bringing together authorities, providers and users pertain mainly
to retail payments, for historical reasons. In December 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced
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the launch of the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB), a forum of all Euro area retail payments stakeholders.
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The objective of the ERPB is to contribute to and facilitate the further development of an integrated, innovative
and competitive market for euro retail payments in the EU by:
• Identifying and studying technical, behavioral and legal obstacles in, among others, credit transfer
payments, direct debit payments, card payments, internet payments, mobile payments and payments-
related horizontal issues (e.g. standards, fraud, security, etc.)

• Identifying and pursuing ways to address these obstacles
• Identifying and pursuing ways to foster innovation, competition and integration in retail payments in
euro in the European Union.
The ERPB is chaired by a high-level representative of the ECB. On the supply side, it is composed of four
representatives from the banking community, two representatives of payment institutions and one
representative of e-money institutions. On the demand side it includes two representatives of consumers and
one representative of each of the following stakeholder categories: (i) retailers with a physical presence, (ii)
internet retailers, (iii) businesses/corporates, (iv) small and medium-sized enterprises and (v) national public
administrations. In addition, six national central banks take part in the meetings on a rotational basis, and the
European Commission is invited to join the ERPB as an observer.
For the execution of its mandate, the ERPB may establish working groups for a limited period of time. Several
groups may operate in parallel, depending on the work priorities.

Besides the ERPB, there are other industry fora with different focus (see section V.2).
Moldova

The Statute of the National Payments Council of Moldova (NPCM) was approved on September 16, 2013, at its
establishment meeting. The NPCM is a professional forum for high-level consultation between various public and
private institutions in order to facilitate the safe and stable functioning of the payment system of the Republic
of Moldova, with the objective to promote: i) cashless payments in the Republic of Moldova; ii) operational
efficiency, security and integrity of payment systems and services; iii) compliance of payment systems and
services with the market demand and the needs of users and their accessibility to the entire population of
the Republic of Moldova; and iv) the innovative nature of payments, cashless payment instruments safety and
their accessibility for users.

The NPCM has neither legal personality nor entrepreneurial activity. Membership is open to the National
Bank of Moldova, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Information Technology and
Communications, the e-Government Center, the Moldovan Banking Association, PSPs and e-money issuers.
The NPCM is articulated into working groups and is chaired by the National Bank of Moldova.
The Bahamas

The bylaws of the National Payments Committee (NPC) were issued in 2012 under the Payment System Act. The
NPC is established as an advisory body to the Central Bank of The Bahamas to: i) advise on the implementation

15 Large-value payment and other settlement systems have users’ groups. At the national level, representatives of the industry and
users convey their inputs through their national central bank. At the European level, strategic issues are addressed in the Contact
Group on Euro Payments Strategy, a forum in which the senior management of commercial and central banks is represented.
Joint meetings of the Eurosystem Working Group on TARGET2 (WGT2) and the TARGET Working Group (TWG), which comprises
representatives of the European banking industry, take place regularly. These pan-European meetings deal primarily with the
management of new system releases.
16 This new high-level entity replaces the SEPA Council.

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