A recent poll conducted by PayExpo Europe reveals that specialists in the UK payments sector overwhelmingly favor the idea of the UK remaining in Europe. The survey, which gathered responses from nearly 10,000 payments experts across various sectors, including banking, retail, telecoms, FinTech, payments technology, leisure, gaming, and the public sector, posed the question: “What would be the best scenario for the payments industry in Europe, a UK vote to Remain or a vote to Leave?”
An overwhelming 85.2% of respondents indicated that they believed a vote to Remain would be in the best interest of the payments industry, while only 14.8% expressed a preference for the UK to vote to Leave.
Among the reasons provided by those favoring a vote to Remain were the following:
“Harmonisation, collaboration, pricing”
“Cohesive partnerships”
“More trade”
Conversely, those who supported a vote to Leave voiced concerns, including:
“Leaving the EU would harm the payments industry.”
“The FinTech industry in London would weaken.”
“Leaving the EU would be a time-consuming and costly process.”
“If we exit the EU, we’d need separate regulations in all EU countries, incurring great expenses and effort.”
Comments from those in favor of leaving the EU included:
“EU regulation is hindering the payments industry’s growth. Despite efforts like the EMD to open up the market to more companies, amendments by member states have allowed local control and regulation, essentially reversing progress made over the past two decades.”
“What would be the UK’s position under the ICS rules? Would the UK be considered outside or still inside the EU/EEA?”
Michael Seaman, event director at PayExpo Europe, commented on the poll’s results, highlighting the significance of the upcoming referendum and the strong opinions within the industry regarding the potential outcomes. PayExpo Europe is a leading conference and exhibition, bringing together over 2,000 attendees from various sectors, including retailers, banks, mobile network operators, gaming operators, government entities, transport operators, and solution providers. It serves as a platform for sharing insights, best practices, and innovations concerning the future of payments and transaction technology and their impact on global commerce.
For more details about the event, including registration information, you can visit PayExpo Europe’s official website.
