AEB, CECA and Unacc, as members of their European associations, support the interconnection of private solutions at the European level and European sovereignty in these systems with the backing of the agreement between the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) to move forward in this direction
The banking associations note that such initiatives demonstrate the importance of private solutions in helping to bolster Europe's ability to operate its own payments
The Spanish Banking Association (AEB), CECA and the National Union of Credit Cooperatives (Unacc) support the interconnection of payment systems and European sovereignty in these systems through the agreement between the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and the European Payments Initiative (EPI) to interconnect their solutions. The idea is to further European sovereignty in payment systems, in this case retail, one of the most crucial in our daily economic life.
The banking associations stress that such initiatives demonstrate the importance of cooperation between existing private solutions in helping to enhance Europe's ability to operate its own payments at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and growing digital transformation.
AEB, CECA and Unacc, as part of the European financial sector associations (ESBG, EACB, EBF), furthermore argue that user-centred, collaborative and interconnectivity-enabled solutions can support innovation and help achieve Europe's strategic autonomy goals.
Bizum, the instant payment platform run by Spanish banks and part of EuroPA, has more than 29 million users who performed almost 1.1 billion transactions in 2024 worth €60 billion. Private-to-private transactions grew by 14% in 2024 and by 93% in payments to merchants.