In brief: New governance on access to means of payment

The Banque de France has just announced the launch of a new governance structure within its organisation. Called the National Committee for Means of Payment, this body will, as its name suggests, be in charge of issues related to French means of payment and their accessibility.

The National Committee on Payment Instruments (CNMP) replaces the current National Committee on Cashless Payments (CNPS) and the Steering Committee of the Cash Channel (CP2F).

It will have to adopt recommendations to :

    facilitate access to payment instruments for the entire French population
    continue the implementation of the national cashless payments strategy (2019-2024) and the national cash management policy.

And the first mission to which the CNMP has devoted itself concerns an inclusive issue, i.e. access to quality means of payment for people with disabilities and/or those who are far from digital technology.

Pooling at the heart of the commitments

The announcement of the launch of the CNMP also came in conjunction with another announcement, concerning the strengthening of the mutualisation movement announced by several historical players in French banking. After ATMs, it is in fact the mutualised processing of cheques that is at the heart of their ambitions.

BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Mutuel have just added a new element to their strategy, by also addressing the possibility of pooling the processing of their cheques, in order to reduce the costs of their infrastructures and ensure long-term access to the service.