Square Management Belgium

The Battle of the Wallets: Who will be Europe's mobile payment wallet? To counter Apple Pay, some 15 banks have joined forces to found EPI Company with the ambition to launch the first pan-European payment wallet #WERO (based on instant SCT) in France, Germany and Benelux. Unfortunately, for the time being, banks in southern Europe do not appear to be joining the initiative, preferring to rely on EuroPA; an interoperability alliance between existing wallets Bizum (Es.), MB Way (Pt.) and BANCOMAT (It.) to offer a cross-border mobile payment solution. While this interoperability is currently limited to P2P transactions, it is expected to evolve rapidly. To the north of Europe, we find another contender for the title of “First Pan-European Payment Wallet”: Vipps MobilePay , which already operates in 3 countries (Norway, Finland and Denmark) and will be expanding to Sweden in 2025. Like Wero, VippsMobile Pay is a single technical solution, but here marketed under 2 distinct brands in different countries (Vipps in Norway and Sweden, MobilePay in Denmark and Finland). Unlike WERO, the Nordic Wallet is card-based and, more importantly, recently integrated NFC payment (in addition to QR code payment). Fourth contender: Bluecode, a German-Austrian wallet, also based on SEPA transfers and QR codes, which has the particularity of multiplying interoperability agreements (with TWINT in Switzerland, Bancomat in Italy and soon BLIK in Poland). Thanks to these agreements, an Austrian user of the BlueCode application can, for example use his BlueCode app to pay his bill (via instant transfer) in an Italian restaurant using a Bancomat Eftpos or Mpos terminal. So we have at least 4 payment Wallets with transnational pretensions, to which we must of course add Paypal, Apple Pay, Google and other SamsungPay. Does one player have the capacity to impose itself on all European markets? Will we continue to have a fragmented payments landscape that favors the expansion of native wallets offered by mobile platforms? Will we be able to have a dominant European solution thanks to interoperability agreements? These are just some of the questions and scenarios that Square Management's #Payments area of excellence is monitoring on a daily basis.

[podcast] Cash & Clear: le baromètre de l’innovation en assurance, tous les détails avec BXFM Radio, Brice Boland et Mathieu Lacroix

SCT and SCT Instant, which rulebook apply ? With the publication on November 28th of the version 1.0 of 2025 Sepa Instant Credit Transfer Rulebook, the European Payments Council (EPC) is setting up the last brick in the Instant Payment landscape (at least until 2027). With the publication of the VoP (Verification of Payee) regulation in October, payment service providers now have a complete view of the target to be reached by November 2025.

Au cas ou vous l'auriez manquée; La dernière chronique de Brice Boland sur BXFM Radio consacrée aux conséquences des élections US.

Square Management Belgium supports and will be present at the Compliance Lunch Debate on Anti-Money Laundering organized by Wintegrity on December 10. Scan the QR code for more details and registration. #BusinessAsUnusual

Liquidity stress test: enhancing financial resilience. Liquidity stress testing (LST) is a critical tool for financial institutions to assess their ability to withstand stress scenarios, such as market or funding disruptions, and to ensure that they have sufficient liquidity to meet their obligations during times of stress. This article, writtent by Maxime Liénart explores the various types of liquidity, the importance and process of reverse stress testing, and the key conclusions drawn from the liquidity stress tests conducted by the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) on Belgian investment managers.

[ chronique radio] Cash & Clear la chronique finance sur BXFM Radio avec Brice Boland Cette semaine on parle #paiements et expérience client.

Retrouvez Brice Boland pour le rendez-vous hebdomadaire avec BXFM Radio pour aborder le sujet des actifs alternatifs. #cash&Clear

Square Management Belgium is supporting and will be present at the Tapio Day on Tuesday November 19th in Brussels.

Square Management Belgium attended the debate ‘Digital Euro and the future of payments’ organised by the Cercle Francophone des Affaires Européennes (CFAE). With contributions from Boris Kisselevsky (European Central Bank), Sébastien de Brouwer (European Banking Federation) and vincent roland (Worldline Belgium), the challenges and opportunities of the digital Euro in a context of increasing dependence on international payment systems were outlined. Currently in Europe (EEA), 56% of all non-cash payments are achieved through Card scheme, mainly made through two international card payment schemes: Visa and MasterCard. If domestics card schemes (around a dozen) are still present and active they are reliant on co-badging with international card schemes to guarantee cross-border acceptance. At present, Europe does not have its own cross-border digital payment system, except for the brand new #WERO scheme which is still limited to P2P (at least for few months again) and deployed to few countries (France, Benelux and Germany) only. The introduction of the digital euro could address this shortcoming, by facilitating payments within the eurozone while guaranteeing greater financial sovereignty. The digital euro will not replace cash payments or current systems, but will provide an additional means of carrying out transactions, particularly online. This transition is essential if we are to meet the challenges of global competition and financial sovereignty. By reducing dependence on international payment systems, Europe will be able to strengthen its position on the world stage. Expected benefits of Euro Digital 1.              Accessibility and free of charge: The digital euro would be a public good, accessible to all citizens of the euro zone. 2.              Protection of privacy: It would offer greater confidentiality than current international payments, reducing the risk of surveillance. 3.              Strengthening Merchants and Banks: Merchants would benefit from reduced transaction costs, and banks would be the distribution intermediaries for this new currency. 4.              Support for Innovation: By integrating the digital euro into a collaborative ecosystem, Europe could stimulate local innovation while remaining competitive with global players. To find out more about Square Management's publications on payments, follow the link https://lnkd.in/eWeqvj6r