CE Digital Payments Summit 2022: Digitalization key in volatile economic times

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Organized by Mastercard for the second year in a row, the Central Europe (CE) Digital Payments Summit 2022 on 20 October will provide an industry forum for discussion and an exchange of ideas on the region’s pressing financial market issues, such as ongoing disruptions and innovation in the financial sector, cybersecurity, and the rise of central bank digital currencies. The conference will give a platform to reputed and influential business leaders, experts, and government representatives from Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia to reflect on the rapidly changing macroeconomic environment in the region and what digital payments can offer. Renowned experts from the European Commission will provide the EU perspective.

Crises have been shaking the world in recent years – the Covid-19 health crisis in 2020 and the presently evolving economic crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine – and monetary and exchange rate policies, along with new digital technologies are playing a key role in tackling them. Macroeconomic factors are also changing rapidly in Central Europe, as  time appears to be running out for central banks and financial institutions in their search for ways to adjust to them. Topics involving a new digital payment ecosystem, ongoing disruptions and innovation in the financial sector, cybersecurity, and central bank digital currencies are gaining increasing relevance. Reputed business leaders and government officials from six Central European countries and representatives of EU institutions will grapple with those topics at the online CE Digital Payments Summit 2022 on the 20^th of October, hosted by Mastercard.

Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) for Open Finance in Europe?

Reflecting on current volatilities in the continent’s economic and financial market, and also the rapid development of technologies and data ecosystems, the European Commission has initiated the revision of the second Payment Services Directive (“PSD2”) and pushed for an extensive professional consultation regarding improvements to the current regulation so that it can withstand future challenges and drive the development of services based on sharing and utilizing financial data. Speakers and guests at the Summit will discuss the possibility of an independent Open Finance framework, and what the regulators and the industry need to do in order to create an efficient ecosystem of financial services based on data access.

Cybercrime kept at bay

The Summit will touch upon cybersecurity in payments because identifying and preventing financial fraud are key for the development of a digital payment ecosystem. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recorded a 300% rise in cybercrime since the outbreak of COVID, while cybercriminals have become more sophisticated in their methods to circumvent existing rules. Therefore, any modification to the PSD2 framework must ensure safety of payments, address new types of fraud, and be future-proof in terms of technological advances. 

Digital euro?

Most central banks across the globe have already launched or are investigating digital projects to establish a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The importance of blockchain technology continues to grow, and a serious debate is taking place on the role and design of the upcoming digital euro in the European Union. What will the blockchain currency of the future look like? How can crypto currencies enter the retail payment space? Conference participants will be seeking the answers to those questions as well. 

Check out the agenda and register your attendance here: CE Digital Payments Summit 2022 | Mastercard.