The European Payments Initiative (EPI): Bridging instant payments across the bloc

The European Payments Initiative (EPI), an ambitious European payments scheme backed by a consortium of 16 banks, has been in the news lately. It is gearing up to pilot an instant payments scheme this year after agreeing to acquire two fintechs, Dutch payment scheme iDeal and mobile payments app Payconiq. The pilot will comprise a digital wallet and instant payments system using open banking in Germany and France before rolling out to other European countries. EPI also intends on adding buy now, pay later (BNPL) financing and digital identity features. Thomas Mueller from Swiss payments resolution 'regtech' Rivero joins Converge to discuss how this new scheme might impact competition, cooperation across the bloc, and keep Apple and Google Pay on their toes in Europe.