
Swiss mobile payment service provider Twint announced the formation of the European Mobile Payment Systems Association (EMPSA), which will be based in Zurich. The other members are the nationally launched payment systems of Belgium (Bancontact Payconiq Company), Germany/Austria (Bluecode), Finland/Denmark (MobilePay), Portugal (SIBS/MB Way), Sweden (Swish) and Norway (Vipps).
EMPSA is chaired by chairman of the Twint board of directors, Soren Mose. Twint's deputy CEO and CFO Anton Stadelmann will act as general secretary. Its remit includes planning the interoperability of the mobile payment systems across national borders.
Altogether, the seven member companies have around 25 million registered users, over 1 million acceptance points, and there are some 350 banks that support the systems.
In the medium term, the association intends to make it possible for users to use all of the individual systems in each member country. EMPSA has already set up a working group to review the technical aspects of interoperability.