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A Brussels-based merchant-lobbying group has charged that a consulting process related to emerging cross-border card-payment standards in Europe is a "sham." The group, EuroCommerce, says in a statement this week the timetables the European Payments Council set for public review and comment on those standards "are wholly unreasonable." The council represents some 8,000 European banks and is overseeing the Single Euro Payments Area mandates for cross-border card transactions and other electronic payments. Officials from both groups failed to respond to CardLine Global requests for comment. EuroCommerce's complaint centers around the technical standards for European card payments that the council is compiling. The standards run hundreds of pages, EuroCommerce says, yet the council has set aside only one month for interested parties such as retailers and consumer groups to review and comment on the standards. The council wants to end review and comments by 31 Oct., EuroCommerce says.
