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In response to the competitive threat in the payments industry from the likes of PayPal and Transferwise (and the upcoming EU second payment services directive), several large European banks are reportedly in talks to jointly set up a cross-border instant payments service.
Mr Treichl said the talks were designed to see off the threat of technology companies like Paypal, which are offering consumers convenient, quick and low-cost payment services - such as its Venmo app in the US - by piggybacking on the banking system. Paypal, which expects its revenues to grow by a fifth to almost $13bn this year - more than many European banks - boasts that it can send money in 25 currencies to millions of people around the world in only 20 seconds using their email address.
https://www.ft.com/content/3e44c610-d9c5-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482
