ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS : EXECUTIVE TACKLES MARKET FRAGMENTATION.

The European Commission would like to eliminate the fragmentation of electronic payment systems in the EU, ie payments by cards, internet (e-payment) and cell phones (m-payment). Its green paper on the subject, published on 11 January, seeks the views of stakeholders on the barriers to integration of this market and how they can be removed.

With more than 700 million payment cards in use in the EU, where online and cell phone payments are also becoming common practice, "secure, efficient, competitive and innovative electronic payments are crucial to enable consumers, retailers and businesses to take full advantage of the single market and to drive the growth of e-commerce," said Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. "Europe has an opportunity to be at the cutting edge of what making a payment' could mean in the future, but we will not be able to reach this goal with the current level of market fragmentation," he added.

The questions raised in the green paper fall into five categories, starting with the specific problem of market fragmentation, market access and entry for existing and new service providers. On the matter of transparent and efficient pricing of payment services for consumers, retailers and other players, the consultation focuses on the lack of clarity of costs for the use of different payment instruments and seeks feedback on ways of boosting...