Ireland prepares for payment revolution
The Irish government will create a National
Payments Implementation Plan (NPIP) this year designed to reduce
the number of paper based cash and cheque transactions in the
country, which although declining, still remains the highest in the
EU.
According to the Irish Payments Services
Organisation’s (ISPO) 2009 annual review, the volume of cheques in
Ireland was down by 13 percent in 2009, which is more than double
the reduction in 2008 and brings the total decrease over four
successive years to 23 percent.
Cheques still account for 66 percent of the
value of all non-cash payments in Ireland versus an EU average of
just three percent.
Figures also show that the value of cash paid
out through ATMs last year declined for the first time ever, by
over 11 percent. Even with this drop, the average of ATM cash
withdrawals per annum per person in 2009 was €5,644. This remains
the highest cash figure in the EU, and is more than double the EU
average.
"The ultimate end of the cheque for everyday
payments is inevitable,” said Pat McLoughlin, chief executive,
IPSO.
“This is now recognised in Ireland where the
Government approved last year the concept of a NPIP. Businesses now
have to plan and prepare to update legacy, cheque-based accounting
processes with electronic ones. Apart from being faster, more
secure and more cost-effective, modern, electronic payment systems
give the beneficiary certainty of payment, particularly important
in these difficult, economic times.’
An NPIP Advisory Group made its final report to the Minister of
Finance in 2009 who accepted the recommendation of the
establishment of a high level group to prepare and implement a
National Payments Plan.
“The delivery of the National Payments Plan is a strategic priority
for IPSO which will, in time, deliver the decisive shift to the use
of electronic payments systems for all, while at the same time,
delivering significant improvements in financial inclusion,” Dr Don
Thornhill, chairman, IPSO.
“The work of the group will be the start of a
process that will lead to the payments industry in Ireland becoming
fully modernised and more in line with other EU member states,
ensuring Ireland’s position as a true competitor within the
EU.”