The world of payments, like many other areas, is being transformed by the growing wave of digitalisation. Contactless payments at the retail point of sale, real-time payment settlement and the trend of using smartphones as bank terminals are but a few examples of innovations in this field. In a bid to build on the achievements of the German SEPA Council, which helped coordinate the recent transition to SEPA, the Bundesbank has now set up the Payments forum – a platform that facilitates dialogue among providers and users of payment services on impending innovations, the design of SEPA 2.0 for digital payment methods and potential areas of conflict.

The Payments forum serves as a national platform for an open exchange of views and opinions, and as a link to the European level – including, for example, the ERPB (Euro Retail Payments Board) and the EFIP (European Forum for Innovation in Payments). Besides facilitating interaction, the Payments forum enables participants to explore solutions to a wide range of challenges at the highest level. The frequency of meetings is initially semi-annual and is based on the meetings of the relevant European bodies.