The cumulative impact of different regulatory and industry
initiatives need to be properly assessed by banks, said Capgemini,
whose
World Payments Report 2011
has been officially launched at
SIBOS.

Christophe Vergne, leader of the consultancy’s
Cards & Payments Center of Excellence, says that initiatives
like Basel III, Dodd Frank, SEPA at Payment Services Directive
should not be acted on in isolation.

Talking to Cards and Electronic Payments
International
, Vergne said that work needs to be done to
analyse the ways in which these initiatives interact and impact one
another.

“As far as we see, very little work is being
done to determine the cumulative effects of the various regulations
and initiatives that are hitting the payments sector. Different
national governments and banks are interpreting the initiatives
differently, which means there is lack of clarity moving forward. I
would be very surprised if one roadmap emerges,” he said.

He added that, instead, it would be “up to
banks and payment institutions to make careful studies of the
interactions and impacts on their own business.”

Launching the report, Pat Meredith, chair of
the Canadian Task Force for the Payments System Review,
said the industry is at the beginning of a decade of change.

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These concerns have been echoed by others on
the floor at SIBOS.

Fundtech’s chief marketing officer George
Ravich expressed concern that the banking industry was not fully
aware of the extent of change to come, saying:

“Basel III will change banking models for the
worse.”

He described the impact of the Dodd Frank Act
and Basel III on payments as unnecessarily severe – although he
emphasised that there was clear rationale behind ensuring banks
looked carefully at liquidity and capital reserves.

The regulatory pressure is too high and, he
believes, and the regulations – not specifically designed to target
payments – will have a predominantly negative impact on an area of
banking capable of stabilising itself.

“At the moment the pendulum is swinging, but it will return to
equilibrium naturally,” he said.