Payments statistics provide information on the access to and use of payment services in the EU countries, as well as on the payment and settlement systems operating there.
Specifically, they comprise data indicators on the number of participants in the domestic infrastructures of the payments market and, most importantly, on the volume and value of payments processed via them. A comparison of indicators between EU countries highlights the similarities but also the significant differences in transaction practices across jurisdictions.
These differences reflect variations not only in payment cultures and in the time of introduction of innovative payment solutions, but also in the established way of operation of payment infrastructures.
Regulatory framework on data collection
The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) has adopted a single framework under which the participating national central banks (NCBs) collect statistical data from payment service providers (PSPs) and payment system operators.
More specifically, since 2014 data have been collected in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1409/2013 on payments statistics and Guideline ECB/2014/15 on monetary and financial statistics (recast).
Since 2014, data have not only been collected from credit institutions, but also from payment and e-money institutions.
It should be noted that the last annual data collection according to the aforementioned regulatory framework include data the reference data for 2021. These data are available via the Open Data section at the BoG and via ECB’s Statistical Data Warehouse
Revised regulatory framework
From reference date 1 January 2022 onwards, payment statistics data will be collected in accordance with revised Regulation ECB/2020/59 of the European Central Bank (ECB). The changes introduced by the amended Regulation refer both to the collection frequency and to the actual definition of the data. The basic changes are outlined as follows:
• Quarterly or semiannual reporting frequency, depending on the type of submitted data.
• Reporting of statistical information on fraud, separately by means of payment.
• Collection of data from account information service providers (AISPs) and payment initiation service providers (PISPs).
• More detailed data on payment channels, payment schemes, cross border card-based payment transactions and country breakdowns are to be reported.
• Reporting of more detailed card-based payment transactions, by means of the merchant category code.
Within the scope of its tasks, the Bank of Greece informs PSPs on their obligation to report data according to the revised Regulation and provides the data collection methodology, as well as necessary material and the technical standards of the submission file (XML). Relevant documentation is available only in Greek.