It is becoming increasingly clear as the euro crisis progresses that national differences will continue to exist in Europe for quite some time to come. The envisaged harmonisation of Europe-wide payment transactions in the shape of SEPA has brought to light difficulties which will lead to the delay of its ultimate implementation. De facto Europe currently looks more like a system of European federal states rather than a United States of Europe. What this means for e-commerce and point of sale is that retailers and service providers will have to familiarise themselves with the idiosyncracies of individual countries. The Europe Payment Study 2012/2013 provides a complete overview of the issue of payment systems in Europe. As well as providing a general analysis of the situation in Europe, new country profiles also offer precise portraits of Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland and Spain. Readers can use the country profiles to identify common features and contrasts and to work out a strategy for Europe accordingly. This means that „think globally, act locally“ is more than ever the appropriate way to regard e-commerce and point of sale in Europe.
The study includes work undertaken by professional associations, banks and service providers which has been subject to checks on internal consistency. Particular care was taken to ensure that the studies are comparable and that the conceptual differences between them are identified. The Europe Payment Study 2012/2013 offers stationary and online retailers as well as other interest groups a birdseye perspective of every aspect – from operative through to strategic – of payments in Europe.
Study contents:
- Important factors influencing payments (key players, business drivers, etc.)
- Current developments (Payment Service Directive, E-Money Directive etc.)
- The fundamentals of B2C e-commerce (authentication and security procedures, etc.)
- Trends in/Characteristics of (online) payment systems (surcharging, offline payments, etc.)
- E-payment mix in Europe (debit/credit cards, e-wallets etc.)
- Classification and various (online) payment methods
- Key ratios in Europe (rates of use for internet banking, annual per capita consumption in online retailing, etc.)
- Payment service providers (business models, technical infrastructure, etc.)
- Developments on the payment market
- Analysis of selected countries (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Spain)
- Comparability of national studies and sales in each country
- Country profiles (active acquirers, active payment service providers, national e-payment mix, top segments, top shops, sales, point of sale, transaction volumes, etc.)
- Comparison of country profiles and analysis
- Comparison of issuer and bank strategies
- Market trends in the payment field
- Findings of the study for retailers