Seeking to further standardize payment card functions and security within the Single Euro Payments Area, the European Payments Council on June 6 released its latest technology requirements.
Representatives of Europe's payments industry, including retailers, card manufacturers, processors, card networks and banks, have eight weeks to review the proposed Sepa cards standardization guidelines and submit comments, according to the council, which is in Brussels.
Sepa is an initiative the European banking industry launched in 2002 to link Europe's disparate national payment systems into a standardized system usable for cross-border debit transactions.
The latest version of the council's technology standards, 5.5, is a 214-page document that includes updates to requirements for card security, cash-back payments, currency conversion, mobile contactless payments and surcharging among certain card payment operations. The council released its previous standardization update in December.
Broad card industry involvement from various sectors reviewing the latest technology updates is crucial in achieving interoperability within the Sepa zone, according to the council, which announced the proposed requirements with the Card Stakeholders Group it helped to create in 2009.
"Creating the Cards Stakeholders Group allows pinpointing the expectations of a broad range of payment card stakeholders," Gerard Hartsink, council chairman, said in a press release. "Our collective aim is to establish a framework for a better, safer, more cost-efficient and richer card services environment, whatever the card product or scheme may be."
The council requested in its press release that industry participants review and submit comments to the organization by email no later than July 29.
