Underpinned by regulatory and supervisory reforms, financial integration in the EU has not only enhanced the resilience of our economy and financial sector, but also improved our ability to act together. Close collaboration in various aspects of EU decision-making allowed EU financial sanctions to be adopted swiftly and implemented consistently, giving our actions greater weight.
Thirdly, the card payments market, particularly in the credit cards space, has evolved in such a way as to have a very unusual characteristic. That is, that the decision-maker in a transaction – the person who decides which payment method to use – is generally not the person who is on the receiving end of the price signal.