During the EBAday conference in Madrid, the company served notice of its plans to make a play for the fast-growing European e-commerce market, which has proved a lucrative area for non-bank outfits like PayPal.

After sharing its 'blueprint' with shareholders yesterday, EBA Clearing says it is now preparing for talks with consumer groups, e-merchants and banks over the next few months, hammering out details ahead of a planned pilot next summer.

John Broxis, director at EBA Clearing says that similar, national, online banking offerings account for about 20% of the European e-commerce market and a continent-wide system could prove a big hit.

"Offering a Sepa-wide solution based on a pan-European interbank payment infrastructure would provide both banks and their customers with the opportunity to expand their business prospects in the e-commerce area. Merchants are asking for a pan-European solution. Consumers are afraid of Internet fraud and want to work through their banks. The banks want to put themselves into the heart of the purchasing experience. It's win, win, win," says Broxis.

The system will be open to banks as well as licensed payment institutions under the PSD. Although it would initially use the Sepa Schemes as a backbone, in the long term EBA Clearing plans a multi-purpose system, which can be re-used for various payments instruments or other applications such as e-identity.

Giorgio Ferrero, Chairman of EBA Clearing discusses the new scheme at this year's EBADay.



EBAday kicks off

News of EBA Clearing's plans is just one of several stories sure to interest the 600-plus delegates at EBAday this week. Revelations about exhibitor Fundtech's possible acquisition has attracted speculation on the floor and weary sighs at the vendor's stand and that of touted suitor ACI Worldwide. Meanwhile, the stepping up of plans by a group of European banks to establish a rival card network to Visa and MasterCard is likely to have huge ramifications for many delegates.