Twenty European banks working on setting up a pan-European payment system

Twenty European banks are working on setting up a pan-European payment system to bypass Visa, Mastercard and technology companies such as Google and PayPal, confirmed to AFP sources involved in this project.

According to the sources, the Pan European Payment System Initiative (PEPSI) is aimed at managing all all forms of cashless transactions.

The idea came from the European Central Bank, which has been pushing for a system to allow Europeans transfer money to each other instantly, a French banking source close to the subject said. The ECB was "worried about the sovereignty of payments and explained that it would appreciate if we looked into the issue," adding that it was chiefly a "political not a technical initiative", said the source.

None of the banking groups contacted by AFP would speak openly about the project. However, according to various sources, only banks from countries in the euro zone (Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Spain) are involved in the initiative, including a large part of French banks and Deutsche Bank in Germany.