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National Payments Conference, Dublin Castle, December 12th 2006

The Irish Payment Services Organisation, in conjunction with the Department of the Taoiseach, co-hosted the first National Payments Conference in December 2006.

The broad objective of the conference was to initiate dialogue amongst the widest possible stakeholder community about the critical need to remove the inefficiencies inherent in our current payment systems. In doing so it is hoped to create a society where all sectors have access to payment systems and our national competitiveness is enhanced as we move ever closer to a Single Euro Payments Area.

The conference was a tremendous success, with more than 200 attendees representing consumers, business, public administration, and disadvantaged groups, as well as banks, credit unions and An Post. A number of suppliers to different segments of the payments business were also represented at the conference.

IPSO Chairman Don Thornhill with former Minister for Finance Brian Cowen (current Taoiseach), Stewart MacKinnon, former C.E.O. IPSO, and including Harry Leinonen from Bank of Finland

What the papers said:

(Irish Examiner, 13th December, 2006)

“Cash dependence not justifiable”

(The Irish Times, 13th December, 2006)

What the speakers said:

Brian Cowen, T.D., Minister for Finance, opened proceedings by putting the current drive for e-payments into context and lending his support to both the unfolding Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and Ireland’s National Payments Implementation Programme (NPIP). He also pointed to substantial recent developments towards electronic payments in the public sector, with 66,000 Irish farmers now receiving their payments electronically from the Department of Agriculture, while 37% of welfare payments are also made through that channel. For Minister Cowen’s entire speech, click here.

Dr Don Thornhill, Chairman of IPSO, set out the agenda and objectives of the conference, drawing particular attention to the significance of the payments infrastructure in the context of Irish national competitiveness. He pointed to our high cash usage levels, high cheque usage levels and the relatively low penetrations of card and other electronic payment options. For Dr. Thornhill’s entire speech, click here.

Harry Leinonen, Advisor to the Bank of Finland, gave an interesting insight into the payments infrastructure in Finland where the benefits of the highly electronic-enabled payment systems accrue to all users of those systems, but particularly the business community.  A key feature of the Finnish system is the well-developed e-invoicing system, which in turn is now being strongly promoted by the European Commission in the context of SEPA. For Mr.Leinonen’s entire speech, click here.

Stewart MacKinnon, Chief Executive of IPSO, focussed on the vision for the payments infrastructure for 2012. He emphasised the need for all significant players in the payments environment to participate and engage in the process of change. For Mr. MacKinnon’s entire speech, click here.

The options for consumers were outlined by Adrian Cannon, Managing Director of Accourt.  Mr. Cannon covered a number of payment options being widely used as alternatives to cash and cheques, including recent advances in the use of cards and mobile phone technologies. For Mr. Cannon’s entire speech, click here.

Colm McCarthy, economist, gave a wider macroeconomic perspective on the use of cash and paper for payments, and pointed out that transitioning to a greater use of electronic mechanisms for funds transfer presented challenges in some sectors while yielding positive returns across the economy. For Mr. McCarthy’s entire speech, click here.

John Hurley, Governor of the Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland, spoke about the regulatory aspects of payments and gave his enthusiastic support for SEPA and NPIP. Significantly, he also announced the acceptance of the Laser debit card scheme as a qualifying/regulated payment scheme.

Breakout sessions:

In the breakout sessions, participants had the opportunity to air and exchange views on the three main topics around transitioning to a predominantly electronic payments system: Universal Access, Cash, and Cheques. The sessions were independently chaired by Brendan Logue, the Registrar of Credit Unions (Universal Access): Dermot Jewell, Chief Executive Officer, the Consumers’ Association of Ireland (Cash); and John Dunne, Chief Executive, Chambers Ireland (Cheques). Quite a number of viewpoints were exchanged in the sessions. To see the output from these sessions, click here.

Wrapping up the proceedings for the day, Dermot McCarthy, Secretary General to the Government, stated that: “It was clear from what had emerged that action was required in many sectors, and that further examination of the issues raised would contribute significantly to the promotion of a more shared vision and purpose and a concerted effort to streamline the payments aspects of trade and administration.”

John Hurley, Governor of the Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland added that: ”Rapid progress in implementing the Programme would do much to enhance the efficiency of the whole payments area and impact most positively on the competitiveness of the entire Irish economy.”