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The European Central Bank has called for greater clarity on standardisation, interchange and increased competition in the run-up to the Single Euro Payments Area in 2008. Controversially, it is also warning of the risk of a payments duopoly in Europe if a European payment scheme doesn't emerge
In a report entitled The Eurosystem's view of a 'SEPA for Cards', the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the euro member countries (collectively known as the Eurosystem) have called for at least a third payment scheme option to be made available to banks in the eurozone. Published in November 2006, the report says that Visa and MasterCard on their own are not sufficient to ensure the required level of competition in Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
The ECB says that there are two options that might allow a European card scheme to emerge. One is the expansion of a national card scheme's activities to the whole euro area or part of it. The other is alliance between payment schemes that would continue to function independently.
"These two solutions would allow the valuable experience of national card schemes in Europe to be retained, and would also create more competition in the European card market. For these reasons, the Eurosystem expects at least one European card scheme to emerge in the coming years. It will be up to the banks to decide whether this scheme (or schemes) has international reach or will simply be co-branded with the international card schemes to offer payment services outside the euro area; in...