thus operationally efficient solutions. they can also serve as the basis for further developments in online and mobile payments. the ultimate aim of sepa is to create a truly domestic european retail payments market which does not differentiate between euro payments made by individuals, businesses or public administrations within one country or between sepa countries. tommaso padoaschioppa, a former member of the ecb ’ s executive board, called this the “ principle of indifference ”. in that sense, sepa is also part of the political objective to create a more integrated europe. the creation of a safe and efficient domestic retail payments market is also an issue of social relevance because individuals and businesses in any country can benefit from retail payment services. it is a means to increase financial inclusion and it strengthens the formal economy. it also has great potential to make remittance payments cheaper and more efficient. let me emphasise : sepa is one of europe ’ s most successful financial integration projects. even during the current financial crisis, sepa has shown its strengths and its implementation has continued without major obstacles. this may be because, as research has shown, effective retail payment services are associated with greater bank stability and because banks perform better in countries with more developed retail payment services. last but not least, there is evidence that retail payments have a positive impact on economic growth. 8 let me conclude by saying that in a world marked by growing mobility and by increasing cross - border trade, retail payments cannot and should not be overlooked. in europe, with its single market for goods, capital, services and a single currency, it is essential to harmonise cashless payments via such a system as sepa. i am convinced that this harmonisation can serve as a valuable point of reference for further integration activities in other parts of the world and also at global level. see the austrian newspaper der standard, 26. 9. 2010, at http : / / derstandard. at / 1285199287021 / westernunion - anti - geldwaesche - regeln - bringen - uns - geschaeft. advisory committee on the future of banks in the netherlands ( “ restoring trust ”, april 2009 ), uk hm treasury ( “ banking reform : delivering stability and supporting a sustainable economy ”, june 2012 ), ecb ( “ retail payments and economic growth ” ; work in progress 2013 ). bis central bankers ’ speeches european retail payment integration should not be seen as a stand

benoit cœure : harmonising cashless payments – the sepa experience dinner speech by mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the ecb seminar “ sharing the european experience in retail payments integration and innovation ”, frankfurt am main, 15 april 2013. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to have dinner with you tonight. i am very happy that central bankers from all five continents are together here today and tomorrow to hear about europe ’ s experience in retail payments integration and innovation, and to talk about how this experience could benefit other countries and communities. sharing information and exchanging views with colleagues from different parts of the world benefits us at the ecb, too. in fact, this seminar gives us all an opportunity to enhance our knowledge and to strengthen personal and institutional ties. before dinner is served, let me give you some food for thought. there are different ways to establish and maintain a domestic, integrated retail payments market. to illustrate this, let me first briefly look at the retail payments market in europe, which has been fragmented along national lines and is still integrating, and then compare it with the market in the us. although the population of the us is comparable with that of the euro area1, the us still generates a higher gdp2. households have a considerably higher gross disposable income. 3 yet the gross savings of households in the euro area ( as a percentage of their gross disposable incomes, hgdi ) are higher than in the us4. given these figures, it is not surprising that the number of cashless payment transactions per inhabitant in the us is higher than in the euro area. 5 however, the fact that it is twice as high is remarkable. why do the retail payments markets in the us and euro area differ? as i will explain, it ’ s not only because of customer preferences and technology, but also because of different approaches to regulation and different pricing. the paths followed for payment transactions will always differ from country to country and region to region. but, the diversity of instruments reveals some interesting facts about the retail payments market in both areas. in the us, about two - thirds of cashless payment transactions are card payments. of those card payments, one - third of them are made with credit cards. in the euro area, card payments are less dominant : just over one - third of cashless payment transactions are card payments. debit cards are generally preferred