Last week, Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis of the European Commission (EC) made a speech at a relatively small Fintech conference. What he said though – or rather, alluded too – has caught the attention of many in the industry. First reports were rather sensationalist – there were a number of articles and headlines that suggested the ECB were going to take on PayPal and Visa.
The detail is rather more subtle, but no less important. The full speech can be read here:
Some reports suggested that the speech said TIPS – the European Central Bank's instant settlement solution – would be opened up to banks across Europe. Which it already is.
What it didn’t say, and wasn’t directly mentioned in the report, was the ECB taking a more pro-active role, which has long been rumoured to be the ECB's end-game.
It did say two things though.
