The UK and US governments, together with businesses and payments industry leaders, have jointly launched the P20 initiative, which is described as “the first transatlantic payments initiative of its kind”. Similar to the G20 or Davos but for payments, the P20 will hold annual meetings of 20 leading payments experts, together with US and UK government officials and regulators, with the first meeting set for 9-10 October 2017, taking place in London. The stated purposes of the P20 meetings is to:

• highlight the importance of payments and fintech in the world economy;
• further establish the role of London and Atlanta in the global payments landscape; and
• provide a long-term opportunity for a transatlantic partnership intended to promote growth of the industry globally through improved regulatory frameworks, economic development, innovation, financial inclusion and overall cooperation.

According to the announcement by the American Transaction Processors Coalition, the P20 is a direct response to the ever-increasing need for greater regulatory clarity, consumer security, and innovation collaboration.

“Gathering together the top global payments companies with regulators and legislators from the UK and the US, the P20 will be a valuable forum for payments executives to discuss the biggest issues facing the industry,” said the British MP Mark Garnier, who is parliamentary under secretary of state at the UK Department for International Trade.

The inaugural conference will include disucssion on:

• recognising the unique and important position the payments industry holds in global commerce, and the associated responsibilities of industry and government;
• identifying industry and policy challenges requiring attention during the next 10 years, and develop an agenda of short- and long-term goals; and
• creating a vision and framework for working together to promote financial inclusion through streamlining regulatory frameworks, improved security and innovation.

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CTMfile take: This is an interesting development that could be interpreted in various ways. For now, some questions: Will EU leaders be involved in this initiative, considering that the UK payments industry is closely intertwined with EU institutions, standards and regulations? Secondly, will London still be as important on the global payments stage when it's no longer part of the EU? And will developments in technology, such as blockchain, completely change the playing field anyway? (For what it's worth, CTMfile's answers are: From the press release it seems not, Who knows and Quite likely).