In terms of efficiency and cost, these initiatives are not enough, however. Rather, technological diversity has resulted in settlement that is uneconomic in the long term. The situation is unsustainable - especially in the light of the costeffective settlement of large-value payments - and is likely to call the consumer protection associations into action again.
The banking industry must seriously consider how substantive improvements can be achieved. In my view, this requires progress in the area of standardisation, in particular. Linking the national retail payment systems throughout Europe has failed so far because the national standards are not compatible with each other.