Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 03:23 pm
UK payments sector specialists overwhelmingly believe that it would be best for the payments industry for the UK to remain in Europe, according to a poll by PayExpo Europe.
The organisers of the conference and exhibition which takes place at ExCel London on 7 & 8 June asked nearly 10,000 payments specialists from the banking, retail, telecoms, FinTech, payments technology, leisure, gaming and public sectors: Which do you believe would be best for the payments industry in Europe? UK to vote to Remain or vote to Leave?
85.2 per cent of respondents said that a vote to Remain would be best, with only 14.8 per cent preferring that the UK vote to Leave.
Among the positive reasons given by those wanting a vote to Remain were;
- ‘Harmonisation, collaboration, pricing’
- ‘Cohesive partnerships’ and
- ‘More trade.’
- Their fears included;
- ‘Leaving the EU would kill off our payments industry.’
- ‘the FinTech industry in London will be weakened’
- ‘Leaving the EU would also take a long time and cost a lot, too much.’ and
- ‘If we left the EU, we’d have to get regulated separately again in all EU countries – at great expense and time and effort.’
- Reasons for wanting to leave
Comments from those who want a vote to Leave included:
– ‘EU regulation is stifling growth in the payments industry. Harmonisation through the EMD was meant to open up the market to more companies, through initiatives such as passporting of e-money licensing, but member states like Germany, France and Spain have put through so many amendments to enable local in-country control and regulation that effectively we have gone back 20 years.’
and
– ‘What will be the position of the UK within the ICS rules; will UK be looked at as outside or still inside the EU/EEA?’
Michael Seaman, event director at PayExpo Europe, comments:
“The outcome of this referendum is clearly a major potential issue to this industry and many people have strong opinions. It is fascinating that such a high proportion of the industry sees advantages in remaining or threats in leaving.”
PayExpo Europe attracts over 2,000 attendees from retailers, banks, MNOs, gaming operators, government and local authorities, transport operators and solution providers. Held in London, the FinTech capital of the world, delegates can share insight, best practice and innovation about the future of payments and transaction technology and their impact on global commerce
A full two-day conference pass is £999+VAT. Full details are available at http://paymentsworldseries.circdata-solutions.co.uk/rfg/publish/PEXL2016/
