Payments becoming increasingly real time and less visible

New players and practices are taking hold of the payments market. In Europe, these developments are also being driven by legislative amendments, with the revised Payment Services Directive entering into force in 2018. The three key trends in payments are fragmentation of the market, payments going real time and the actual act of payment fading into the background of the process. Amid these changes, the central bank has the task of ensuring reliable and secure payments also in the future.