The Payments Association EU (PA EU), together with Deloitte and The Paypers, has launched a report titled ‘Key Players in the EU Payments Landscape - 2026’. The publication reviews the EU’s individual payments markets, ranking key players by their position in the value chain and financial indicators.
A market in transition
The report frames the EU payments sector as being in a period of regulatory and structural change. The Instant Payments Regulation has been fully applied since October 2025, requiring payment service providers across the bloc to offer instant credit transfers under the same conditions as standard transfers. PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation were finalised in 2026, ahead of a phased rollout that is expected to reshape licensing and consumer protection requirements across the EU. Separately, the digital euro project has moved into its technical build phase, with a pilot scheduled for 2027.
The report also points to developments in payment sovereignty initiatives. Wero, the pan-European payment scheme, has registered around 54 million users since its launch. The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has also signed an agreement with EuroPA aimed at achieving cross-border interoperability by 2027, a move that reflects continued efforts to build European alternatives within the region’s payments infrastructure.
Report structure and scope
The publication is divided into two main sections. The first presents Deloitte’s analysis of the evolving payments landscape, including interviews with EPI and Swift. The second section examines the market, players and characteristics of each of the 27 EU member states individually, supplemented by a regional snapshot covering market size, instant payment adoption, licensing environment and payment behaviour, intended to allow comparison across countries.
A new addition to this edition is a set of International Players Flashcards, which profile EU and non-EU companies spanning card schemes, banks, Open Banking providers and infrastructure providers. Each company is presented in a standardised format covering its headquarters, EU presence, a key business metric and its most recent strategic move.
The report additionally includes Expert Opinions on the payments landscape in each EU country, contributed by 33 local professionals, offering perspectives from across the region’s national markets.
Industry relevance
By combining regulatory tracking, country-level market data and company profiling, the report is positioned as a reference point for stakeholders monitoring how instant payments adoption, PSD3 implementation and the digital euro’s progress are likely to affect the competitive positioning of banks, card schemes, fintechs and infrastructure providers operating in the EU over the coming years.
The report is available here.
