regards the development of innovative payment services, since banks are resisting the objectives of psd2 on this front. they have been defensive when it comes to granting technical access to new and innovative payment service providers, which will limit european fintech companies ’ ability to provide competitive solutions. indeed, i fear that global giants from outside europe will use their network power to increase their presence further. in other sectors, european companies have succeeded in achieving global reach. in the car industry, for example, european vehicles set the standard when it comes to quality and reliability. there is no reason why this success cannot be replicated in the area of payment services – or financial services in general. the way we pay in europe is changing. significant numbers of consumers are moving to online payment channels, with retail payments increasingly being carried out via mobile phones. at the same time, virtual currencies have long been a topic of debate – and not only among experts, either. european citizens demand pan - european services that are safe and efficient. consequently, there is a need to look carefully at the governance and regulation of payment solutions. many payment channels are provided by non - european companies. although those companies comply with our legislation and use our payment infrastructure, they are, for the most part, not domiciled in europe. this increases our dependence on third countries. in particular, we have to be mindful of the fact that extraterritorial jurisdiction could, in a worst case scenario, affect the operation of those companies and disrupt payments between european counterparties. in the current geopolitical environment, such risks are, unfortunately, not as remote as they once were and need to be taken seriously by european policymakers. conclusions we have laid the groundwork by providing safe and efficient market infrastructure, and this should be used as a basis for innovative, user - friendly solutions. the way to protect the integrity of european payment services is not by closing them off to the world, but by making them global players. building on local or national solutions is anachronistic and will not meet the needs of the market. if we are to succeed at a global level, the issue of domestic governance needs to be addressed. our reliance on non - european card schemes for domestic payments in europe is suboptimal. european card schemes should make interoperability and full pan - european reach their main priorities, enabling any card to be used at any terminal. at the same time, governance arrangements need to cater for european needs,

##a ) – an endeavour that required substantial efforts by all stakeholders. that initiative consisted of two key stages. first of all, a harmonised legal framework was needed for payment services in the eu. thus, the payment services directive ( psd ) was adopted in 2007 and entered into force in 2009. second, it was important to ensure that consumers and businesses in the eu could send payments to each other quickly and easily across borders, with no differences between domestic and non - domestic payments. the sepa credit transfer and sepa direct debit schemes replaced all domestic payment schemes in the euro area, using fully interoperable global standards. catering for innovation in the current age of rapid technological progress, it is vital to ensure that innovation delivered by banks and non - banks reaches all european citizens. innovative bespoke national solutions using 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches national – or, more frequently, non - european – technology could threaten the integration achieved by the various sepa schemes. innovation may start at domestic level, but it should not face barriers preventing pan - european expansion. thus, national solutions should provide for pan - european reach in their initial design. as these solutions tend to be provided by non - banks or disseminated by local banks on behalf of non - european entities, third - party providers need regulated access to payment accounts. the revised payment services directive ( psd2 ), which is currently in the process of being implemented, will provide secure and interoperable payment account access and will allow innovative new payment services to be provided in the eu. what we don ’ t need is integration with non - european countries that runs counter to european standards. while legislation is indispensable for an integrated market and to promote innovation, it is not the only precondition. cooperation between stakeholders is also essential in order to ensure smooth and harmonised processes throughout the eu. the ecb has brought the market together, initially via the sepa council and then via the euro retail payments board ( erpb ). the erpb was instrumental in the development of the sepa instant credit transfer scheme, which is now live, with over 1, 000 providers participating. those instant payments have been achieved without legislation, with the ecb instead facilitating dialogue and consensus between market actors. moreover, that scheme will soon be complemented by the ecb ’ s new target instant payment settlement service, which is set to go live this november, providing a real - time, high - end