Today, 19 May 2014, The Bank of Finland organised the eighth Payments Forum, where payment sector experts pondered the current state of payments and future payment trends as well as the challenges and opportunities for payments in a digitalising economy. Also discussed, from a range of perspectives, was how payments are affected by EU regulation.
Appearing at the Payments Forum, Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen emphasised the central, if often hidden significance of payment systems from the perspective of financial system stability and the overall functioning of society.
‘A stable financial system requires, as a foundation, payment systems that operate reliably and securely under all circumstances. Electronic services and payments open up new opportunities for both more efficient and more customer-driven services. At the same time, the risks of the Internet pose substantial challenges for service providers,’ underlined Governor Liikanen.
He went on to assess how five recognised criteria of efficient payment systems from the perspective of society as a whole can be realised both now and in the future. These criteria are technical efficiency, non-discrimination and accessibility, efficient and cost-based pricing, continuity and maintenance support performance, and international compatibility. For the most part, he considered these criteria were being met rather well, but ongoing development was essential, particularly to ensure the security and usability of services facilitating online transactions.
In the midst of pressures for change in the payments arena, development work on payment services has continued both in Finland and elsewhere. At European level there has been the founding of the Euro Retail Payments Board, while, in response to an initiative by the Bank of Finland, Finland has received a new national cooperation body for the development of retail payments, the Payments Council. This brings together users and producers of payment services and the authorities, with the aim of supporting exploitation of progressive, internationally compatible and socially efficient forms of payment. The Payments Council provides a setting for open discussion and exchange of ideas relating to payments, and thus in its own way seeks to further the realisation of the five criteria addressed by Governor Liikanen.
The annual Payments Forum serves as a channel for communicating the achievements of the Payments Council to the various stakeholder groups in the payments arena. For further information, please contact Bank of Finland economist Kari Kemppainen (kari.kemppainen@bof.fi, tel. +358 10 831 2249).