A European card payments scheme: Forever a phantom?

For many years requests for and debates about a European card payments scheme (ECPS) have gone on, with no implementation so far. This paper shows that a true ECPS will not occur within the scope of the current architecture of the card market, which is based on competition. The creation of a true ECPS can only be achieved by means of a cooperative solution similar to the EPC. However, this will require the consensus of the European players in the card business and the willingness to make the necessary capital investment, as well as the benevolent support of the European institutions that have demanded an ECPS. So far, however, European decision makers have only formulated a wish-list with somewhat inconsistent items and the top management of European banks has displayed a noticeable lack of interest in this topic. Therefore, the ECPS will probably remain a phantom.