Ever since the single currency was introduced, the integration of financial markets has advanced much faster in terms of integration in the field of payments. However, the crisis has conditioned a segmentation of the European financial markets, while the convergence of payment habits has been an ongoing process supported in large by the European SEPA project. The implementation of SEPA project has inspired new integration processes in the European Union, which proved to be necessary in times of economic and financial instability, such as building the banking union by establishing the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the Single Resolution Mechanism for banks and the unique rules regulating the deposit insurance schemes. Therefore, the integration in many fields is a consequence of the  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  monetary integration in the European Union, which was timely foreseen in the field of payments where we have gradual and continued integration. However, the ultimate goal of SEPA is not to make the users of payment services behave uniformly, but to harmonize principles, business practices, and rules and technical standards for conducting payments. In that respect, recently, the main focus was the migration of credit transfers and direct debts under the SEPA standards, with the deadline for the members of the euro area being August 2014. In the period ahead, the efforts within the SEPA project are expected to aim towards harmonization of card payments.
Importing the stability-oriented policy that had long been conducted in the EMU's core countries helped to create better conditions for future growth. The policy model we now follow comes originally from Germany. During the entire post-war period they have endeavoured, to a great extent successfully, to maintain price stability. The task of achieving this has fallen to the German central bank - the Bundesbank - which has operated independently, at arm's length from party politics. The Bundesbank model is now copied by a number of industrial nations, which have given their central banks a large degree of independence and the task of aiming for price stability. This policy is also reflected in the Maastricht Treaty and in the Riksbank legislation. My colleagues in the major industrial nations also try - as long as they are sure that inflation is not about to deviate from the desired level to take account of economic activity and unemployment. There are thus considerable similarities and this applies not only in Europe, but also in a comparison with, for instance, the US, although the stipulated targets vary, sometimes for historical reasons. In this sense we are all the children of the Bundesbank! Within the central bank world the methods of working have also become more similar in recent years. Although not all industrial nations with a floating exchange rate say that they use inflation targeting, they actually do so in some form.