Faster Payments & SEPA

In the past payments has been seen as a relatively dull but profitable area for banks. In recent years this has started to change, not just through regulation such as SEPA and the UKs Faster Payments initiatives, but also competition and innovation such as PayPal and mobile payments to pick out just a few examples. Banks are realising that the trends in payments are for faster, cheaper, increasingly transnational mechanisms that demand increased complexity not just to deliver the payment but also to ensure the appropriate fraud, risk and credit checks are performed. These become almost exponentially more difficult as the time between initiation and irrevocable settlement of the transaction decreases. At the same time the banks are being asked to provide this increased complexity at a lower price point and cross border. Payments is no longer dull, but without careful management it may also no longer be profitable.

MPIE are actively involved in UK Faster Payments and SEPA. As an example of the diversity of our offerings we have recently run a number of Faster Payments courses with a partner organization, giving training to major UK and European banks. We have also worked with partners to set up an industry information web site on Faster Payments which has become a reference source for many banks.