ECA report on ‘Digital payments in the EU’

On Thursday 9 January 2025, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on digital payments in the EU.

About the topic

Digital payments refer to the electronic exchange of funds, often through mobile devices or digital channels, including card payments. Digital payments promote economic growth by providing access to banking services, stimulating spending and facilitating international trade. Digital payments for retail sales in the EU more than doubled in value between 2017 and 2023, surpassing €1 trillion in 2023. As digital payments are crucial for the EU’s internal market to function smoothly, especially across borders, the EU has responsibility for ensuring that they operate efficiently and effectively.

About the audit

The objective of this audit was to examine the EU’s approach to digital payments. The auditors examined whether the EU’s regulatory framework sets the right conditions for safer, faster and less expensive digital payments in the EU. This included an assessment of whether the Commission has analysed how the regulatory framework and its actions have impacted the EU market for payment services. The auditors also assessed whether the Commission implemented the actions set out in its retail payments strategy effectively.

The report and press release will be published on the ECA’s website (eca.europa.eu) at 17.00 CET on Thursday 9 January. The ECA Member responsible for the report is Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz.​

The ECA’s special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.​