[author: Karen Ross]

The European Payments Council, a decision making body of the European banking industry, released a mobile payments white paper in October 2012. The white paper presents an overview on mobile payments for Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) payment instruments, including detailed analysis of both mobile contactless and remote payments. SEPA is an initiative to promote an integrated market for payments in Europe. The paper introduces related use cases and service models, and identifies challenges presented by certain types of payments.