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Smart Payment Association

SPA

The Smart Payment Association (SPA) is the trade body of the cards and mobile payments industry.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Technical description of important and critical products with digital elements

17 Apr 2025

The Smart Payment Association (SPA) is the trade body of the cards and mobile payments industry. SPA addresses the challenges of a fast-evolving payment ecosystem, promoting innovation, security and interoperability of payment instruments. SPA works closely with regulators and standardization bodies, offering leadership and expert guidance to help its members and their customers adopt new payment technologies of today and tomorrow. As part of its activities, SPA is actively reviewing the EU CRA and its Implementing Act. This feedback aims to refine the definitions of Secure Element and Smartcards including both hardware and software elements, but also to ensure recognition of existing conformity assessment procedures, to clarify product classifications to avoid duplications and to improve risk assessment based on the product role and criticality. SPA believes this feedback will help aligning industry standards and ensure the security of payment products across Europe.
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Response to Cyber Resilience Act

20 Jan 2023

Introducing cybersecurity by design and by default principles into digital products, the proposed EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) marks a clear commitment from the European Union to protect millions of businesses and consumers in an increasingly connected world. The draft legislation covers any product with digital elements and applies to manufacturers of hardware and software components and devices. It also imposes a duty of care on manufacturers for the life of their products including essential requirements for the vulnerability handling processes. Importantly, the CRA also considers the ability of users to make an informed choice by setting out a requirement for transparency in the security properties of a particular product through CE marking. As the trade body of the cards and mobile payments industry a sector that, for over four decades, has delivered the highest levels of protection for its payment instruments Smart Payment Association (SPA) welcomes all initiatives seeking to eliminate security flaws, address fraud and tackle new risks. Therefore, we believe it is important to recognise the presence of these kinds of pre-existing robust and stable security frameworks in established industries including those utilized in the smart payment cards sector despite not being directly under the prevue of existing European regulation. Mapping existing proven schemes under the CRA will identify compliant sectors and avoid standards fragmentation. It is also important to note that while EU regulations apply in Europe, these are often endorsed in other regions of the world. In the smart payment card vertical, for example, market products are issued globally, and certifications of global payment schemes (EMVCo) are internationally valid and recognized. It is therefore critical that regulation be developed with a view to the global context. This SPA response to the proposed CRA outlines the key requirements for manufacturers, matching the criteria against existing industry frameworks to illustrate conformity. It also details key proposals to leverage current frameworks under the CRA to ensure ongoing compliance. See full response attached.
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Response to Instant Payments

7 Apr 2021

The Smart Payment Association (SPA) s an organization of major european security technology vendors for the financial industry. SPA is particularly active in the production of both SEPA and Global standards for retail payment systems with a focus on innovation and consumer protection. Our position is summarized in four points: 1. Promote standards for the interoperable selection of Instant Payments at the POI 2. The European Financial Regulators should play an active role by: -Catalyzing the production of standards so that services offered by Instant Payments are at least equivalent to those offered by card payments ( refund, pre-authorization..) -Referencing these standards in Regulations -Supporting the creation of European payment systems based on these standards 3. The adoption of new retail payment instruments should be a market decision not an imposition from regulatory constraints. 4. Instant Payments at the POI should be as fluid as contactless card payments. SPA has a proposal to achieve this: The Instant Payment Card Find attached file for further information We remain at your disposal for any further information you might require With our best regards https://smartpaymentassociation.com/index.php/publications-smart-payment-association/position-papers-smart-payment-association/entry/the-instant-payment-card-initiating-a-sepa-credit-transfer-at-the-point-of-sale https://smartpaymentassociation.com/index.php/publications-smart-payment-association/position-papers-smart-payment-association/entry/the-instant-payment-card-initiating-a-sepa-credit-transfer-at-the-point-of-sale
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