The Commission has adopted a Green Paper ‘Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments’. The Green Paper assesses the current landscape of card, internet and mobile payments in Europe, identifies the gaps between the current situation and the vision of a fully integrated payments market and the barriers which create these gaps. The main issues identified in the paper concern:
· Market access and entry for existing and new service providers
· Payment security and data protection
· Transparent and efficient pricing of payment services
· Technical standardisation
· Inter-operability between service providers
In its answer, AGE has stressed that financial circumstances, health, physical and cognitive conditions, mobility and access to social networks change as people grow older and can have important implications on older people’s ability to use of payment systems. As our societies become more and more digitalized, many older people are faced with barriers that prevent them from using card, mobile and e-payments, mainly due to their lack of media literacy and poor ICT skills as well as the lack of accessibility e-payment devices and interfaces. While discussing the specificities of the consultation AGE highlighted that a range of payment options should be available to consumers and that electronic options should not exclude other modes of payment like bank transfers, cheques or cash payments in order not to aggravate the phenomenon of financial and digital exclusion.
You may read AGE’s answer following this link.
For more information you may contact Nena Georgantzi at nena.georgantzi@age-platform.eu
