Mission and role
The Berlin Group is a pan-European payments interoperability standards and harmonisation initiative whose primary objective is to define open, common, scheme- and processor-neutral standards in the interbanking domain. As such, the Berlin Group is a purely technical standardisation body, focusing on detailed technical and organisational requirements to achieve this primary objective.
The Berlin Group first met in Berlin, hence its name, in October 2004, and currently includes all major players in the payments industry from the eurozone and beyond. Participants include banks (ASPSPs), central banks, banking associations, payment associations, national and international payment schemes, and interbank processors operating in SEPA.
The early initiators of the Berlin Group initiative already shared the original ambition and vision of the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EC) and the European Payments Council (EPC) on SEPA payments. In their view, this vision would be best achieved by building on and preserving the high levels of efficiency, brand awareness, security, convenience, and ease of use already achieved in existing national schemes. In general, most payment transactions already take place at the national level, where national efficiencies in payment schemes and infrastructure are well established and can be leveraged to migrate towards a truly ‘domestic’ acceptance system within SEPA. Throughout their work, the Berlin Group acknowledges the broad diversity of existing and competing payment schemes and infrastructures, rooted in different historical backgrounds, with different business models and stakeholders, and often with diverging governance arrangements and payment functionality across Europe.
The principal goal is to meet the aims of the ECB, the EC, the EPC and the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) with regard to a Single Payment Area, and in particular to help foster the development of an integrated, innovative and competitive market for retail payments in euro in the European Union. In its work, the Berlin Group aims to enable a true unbundling of payment schemes and processing activities, as required for providing efficient SEPA payment services to the market. Once established in the market, scheme-independent standards will also allow new payment schemes to enter the European market more easily, contributing to competition in payment systems.
The Berlin Group is not engaged in implementing standards within or between schemes. Participation in the Berlin Group does not imply either endorsement of any of the solutions identified or a commitment to implement them. Individual market participants decide whether to implement the standards delivered by the Berlin Group.
Governance and structures
The Berlin Group is open to participation by any market supply-side bank (ASPSP), central bank, banking association, payment association, payment scheme, or interbank processor active in the SEPA payment industry. The Berlin Group also welcomes participants from outside the SEPA countries who want to learn from, or take part in, creating the SEPA-focused Berlin Group standards. Requirements that may not align with the SEPA ecosystem, regulations, and legislation will not necessarily influence the Berlin Group’s work, while non-conflicting requirements will be considered for integration.
The Berlin Group is governed by a Plenary as the decision-making body and several Taskforces, all of which report to the Plenary. These Taskforces meet regularly to work on new features and change requests to the standards. Dedicated NextGen Taskforces discuss research items that could impact the Creditor/Acquirer-to-Debtor/Issuer domain (e.g., new developments in customer authentication, tokenisation, instant payments, mobile payments, or items derived from new regulations or directives).
Although the Berlin Group has no formal means or mandate to foster implementation of the standards within or between schemes, it aligns with implementers of the standards to identify and manage interoperability or technical implementation issues and to keep the standards aligned with the requirements of real implementations.
The Berlin Group is committed to full transparency in its work to the market and was created in the spirit of an ‘open source’ initiative, with the intention of contributing its achievements freely to any interested party. The standards specifications issued via the Berlin Group website are available free of charge.
Available downloads: