ECB wants Europe-wide P2P payments by year end
P2P mobile payments in Europe using only the payee's mobile phone number as proxy for their IBAN number will be possible by the end of the year, the European Central Bank (ECB) has said. The ECB and central banks based on the euro, who together form the Eurosystem, expect that the service will not be restricted to national IBANS, Yves Mersch, executive board member of the ECB, said. Payment service providers are also being encouraged by the Eurosystem to make instant payment solutions available across Europe by November 2017.

Consumers will be able to make peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments across Europe using only the payee’s mobile phone number which will act as proxy for their international bank account number (IBAN) by the end of 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) has revealed.

The Eurosystem, made up of the ECB and the national central banks of states whose currency is the euro, “expects the launch of a standardised look-up service that allows (person-to-person) mobile payments using the mobile phone number of the payee as a proxy for the IBAN,” Yves Mersch, member of the executive board of the ECB, said during a keynote speech at the French Payments Committee conference.

“This service should be launched by the end of 2017 and should not be restricted to national IBANs.”

At the same time, payment service providers are being encouraged by the Eurosystem to “make instant payment solutions in euro available to end users at a pan-European level from November 2017”.

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions