Luxembourg, 3 January 2025
As 2025 begins, let’s think back to how digital payments have become a key part of the festive season. From buying presents online to ordering meals, enjoying a night out, or even paying for a holiday, digital payments are now an essential part of everyday life.
Between 2017 and 2023, the total value of digital payments for retail sales in the EU more than doubled to an impressive total that topped €1 trillion. This rapid growth demonstrates how crucial secure, efficient, and convenient payment methods have become in supporting the EU’s internal market. The EU auditors looked at how EU action has impacted digital payment services, and their report is due to be published at the beginning of January 2025.
Digital payments are the electronic exchange of funds, often on mobile devices or via other digital channels. Ranging from card transactions and credit transfers to digital wallets, digital payments have become an essential part of everyday life for consumers and businesses alike.
The rapid adoption of digital payments has been driven by the ever-increasing use of mobile devices, plus advancements in payment technologies, enabling seamless transactions across borders and boosting economic activity.
Digital payments have played a key role in stimulating economic growth by providing easier access to financial services, encouraging consumer spending and facilitating international trade. This trend accelerated during the festive season, where the convenience of digital transactions helped millions of EU citizens complete their 2025 holiday purchases in just a few clicks.
While traditional card payments still accounted for 40 % of e-commerce payments and 63 % of point-of-sale transactions in 2022, new trends were already emerging. Contactless payments, where there’s no need to confirm the transaction with a PIN number, were becoming increasingly popular. By late 2022, more than half of all card-based payments in the EU were contactless. At the same time, digital wallets were on the rise, making cash less relevant for everyday transactions.
As digital payments become integral to the EU’s economic framework, the European Union has a responsibility to ensure that such payments remain secure, efficient and accessible for all. This is crucial for the smooth functioning of the EU’s internal market, especially across borders.
Here at the European Court of Auditors we recently conducted an audit on the EU’s approach to digital payments and payment services. Our auditors examined whether the EU’s regulatory framework set the right conditions for safer, faster and less expensive digital payments in the EU. This included assessing whether the Commission had analysed the impact of the regulatory framework and its own actions on the EU market for payment services. Furthermore, our auditors considered whether the Commission had effectively implemented the actions set out in its retail payments strategy.
Our special report presenting the findings from this audit will be published on 9 January at 17:00 CET on the ECA’s website, offering valuable insights into the strengths of the EU’s approach to digital payments, as well as identifying areas for improvement. Our auditors’ recommendations in the report are intended to provide input both for ongoing and for any future legislative proposals on payment services.
Source – ECA