The action of the National Cashless Payments Committee is bearing fruit

The National Committee for Cashless Payments (CNPS), makes a progress report on the implementation of the national payment strategy in France. This is a first mid-term review, as the plan began in 2019 and is due to end in 2024. The results are considered positive, driven by a favourable context.

FACTS

• The CNPS gave a progress report on the implementation of the national cashless payments strategy for 2019-2024 and on the objectives and priorities of the second phase of this plan, which is now underway.

• The result is presented as largely positive, as more than half of the 56 actions defined by this strategic plan have already been achieved.

• The CNPS also emphasises its efforts on the key points of this strategy, which are linked to current payment issues, and which concern

• instant transfer, as more than 25 million users of Paylib's interbank offer can currently make instant payments between individuals,

• contactless payment, which has been boosted by the health crisis and has seen a 35% increase in usage over the past year. More than half of all card payments at the point of sale are currently made in contactless mode,

• Open Payment, which continues to be deployed and currently has around twenty cities equipped in France,

• Open Banking, which now enables a large majority of market players to offer innovative solutions associated with value-added services,

• and finally the dematerialisation of invoices, which will become an obligation by 2026.

CHALLENGES

• Although its strategy is still being deployed, external threats, such as the announcement of the deployment of a digital euro by Circle for example, are pushing the CNPS to demonstrate today the yet concrete impact of its actions on the evolution of payment in France.

• Created in April 2015, the National Cashless Payments Committee's main objective is to coordinate the implementation of the French strategy on payment methods. Chaired by the Banque de France, it is co-managed by the French Banking Federation and the French Association of Corporate Treasurers. The latter can thus today justify their commitments in terms of redesigning payment methods and, above all, integrating new technologies into processes, without however emphasising their ambition to totally replace cash in the long term.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The progress currently being made by the CNPS echoes other initiatives currently being carried out more widely by the Banque de France. In April, for example, the institution committed itself to the democratisation of the instant transfer.

• The issue of European sovereignty over the payment market is more than ever at the heart of concerns. And innovations in the field of payments represent both a threat and an opportunity for the main bodies responsible for ensuring the transition of offers at national and European level.