Greece’s Payment Rails & How They Work – SEPA, DIAS & Digital Wallet Expansion

Greece's payment system is going through a huge transformation right now. New technologies, new legislation, and shifting tastes among businesses and customers are all making this change happen. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the modernisation of the DIAS payment system, and the quick growth of digital wallets in Greece are the three main things that are making this change happen. All of these things are changing how people and firms do business. They are also making Greece's standing in the European payments system stronger and helping the country evolve towards a digital-first economy.

Greece's SEPA: The Base of European Unity

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) connects Greece to the rest of the European financial system. Its purpose is to make euro transfers between nations as easy and useful as those conducted within a country. Greece is a member of the European Union and has completely accepted SEPA standards. It has also set up the systems it needs to make the change go smoothly. Because of this, Greeks may now send and receive money all throughout the EU as effortlessly and cheaply as they could at home.

SEPA has had a big effect on the Greek banking industry. SEPA has made things safer for customers, opened up the market to new enterprises, and made pricing simpler by standardising credit transfers, direct debits, ATM transactions, and card payments. Greece doesn't have to rely on cash and checks as much anymore because of this interoperability. It has also led to new concepts in Greek electronic payments. More and more individuals are using SEPA Direct Debit for items like subscriptions. It's also becoming more popular for online shopping, where more than 30% of transactions are being done digitally.

The figures prove that the transformation is real. The DIAS network handled over 144 million transactions totalling €184 billion in 2013. Most of these transactions previously met SEPA standards. Since then, adoption has only gone up, which implies that Greece is well on its way to becoming a cashless economy.

All payments in Greece are based on the DIAS Payment System

The DIAS Interbanking Systems S.A. is just as essential in other countries as it is in this one. The whole country uses DIAS as its major payment centre. It makes sure that both retail and wholesale transactions go off without a hitch. The Greek banking system needs to perform well, and its infrastructure is highly vital for that. It lets people send money, issue direct debits, pay with a card, create checks, and take money out of ATMs.

DIAS has become a centre for new ideas in Greece's financial sector, not merely for resolving debts. For instance, it makes it easier to recover debts because customers can pay them off at any Greek bank, and every day, unique payment codes are used to check transactions. DIAS handled an incredible 367.6 million transactions in 2022, valued more than €407 billion, which is more than twice Greece's yearly GDP. This scale indicates how important DIAS is to the country's finances and how it helps Greece update its payment systems.

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IRIS's work to make fast payments possible in Greece

The debut of IRIS, the DIAS-run infrastructure for fast payments, has drastically transformed the way Greece modernises its payments. IRIS is possible because of the SEPA rapid transfers mechanism. It helps users quickly send money from one account to another. This makes it a solution that is ready for the future and completely supports the European Commission's goal of making rapid payments available to everyone.

IRIS has three major services. With IRIS Person-to-Person (P2P), people can pay money to each other right away by giving them their mobile number. With IRIS Person-to-Business (P2B), clients may pay freelancers or small businesses using things like a VAT number or a QR code. Lastly, IRIS e-commerce makes it easy for people to buy things from online stores. Customers simply need to sign up once and have a smartphone with a mobile banking app to enjoy these services.

Adoption has happened pretty swiftly. Over the course of two years, the number of IRIS P2P users expanded from 800,000 to roughly 2 million, more than doubling. P2P transaction volumes rose by 267 percent when looking at the same time period in 2022 and 2023. When you look at the same time period in 2021 and 2023, they climbed by about 965 percent. IRIS P2B has also increased a lot, from 77,000 users in 2021 to 120,000 users in 2023. Starting in December 2024, the government will require freelancers and businesses to use IRIS to make payments of up to €500. This will help the growth. This is to stop people from not paying their taxes and to cut down on the need for cash. Greece aims to be a part of the EuroPA project in 2025. A wider European immediate payments network will make IRIS available to more individuals.

The growth of digital wallets in Greece

SEPA and DIAS are the building blocks of Greece's financial system, but digital wallets are transforming the way people spend their money every day. In 2015, capital controls and restrictions in 2016 made cards more popular and paved the way for mobile and contactless payments. Not long ago, Greece only had 150,000 EFTPOS terminals. There are now more than 650,000. In Greece, contactless and mobile payments are getting more popular, although debit cards still account for 92% of all card transactions.

People utilise a variety of different wallet solutions these days. One in five Greeks still uses PayPal to pay for products online, making it the most popular option for Greeks to do so. Apple Pay isn't as popular because Apple only holds approximately 15–16% of the market, although it is slowly rising in cities. Google Wallet is quite popular in Greece because a lot of people use Android. Qiwi and other companies also serve the market, letting users pay for things like goods, services, and online purchases

This business has a bright future ahead of it. The market for prepaid cards and wallets is anticipated to be over $3.82 billion by 2025 and almost $4.63 billion by 2029. The number of digital wallets in Greece is likely to rise by more than 50% from 2022 to 2026.

The administration is pushing for digital transformation

Greece is also working hard to move its payment system into the future. The launch of the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet in November 2026 is a huge affair. This secure app for smartphones will help users keep and exchange identity documents like driver's licenses, passports, and national IDs without having to use cloud storage that is controlled by a single company. This will make it less likely that security will be broken. Thessaloniki Airport will be one of the first airports to use biometric verification to check in passengers aboard planes. There are already tests like this going on in maritime transportation.

Greece is also getting set to make e-invoicing necessary for exports and business-to-business transactions by 2026. They also designed a digital wallet for kids to use to show their age online. The goals of these projects are to increase consumer safeguards, ensure people obey the regulations, and upgrade the financial system.

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Challenges that persistently arise

Greece's digital journey is still arduous, but it has gone a long way. There is a divide between small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) and larger companies because SMEs are hesitant to employ digital tools. Also, not enough people know how to use computers, and there aren't enough individuals who work in ICT. Informal "grey" payments, especially in industries like healthcare, nevertheless make it harder to see where money is going. There are still security issues; Greece was the sixth most common country for phishing scams in the world in the third quarter of 2021. To lower the risks, Article 22 of Law 5019/2023 specifies that payment service providers must implement greater security measures and refund consumers who are victims of online frauds that entail more than €1,000.

Business Opportunities in Greece's Modern Payment System

Greece's transformation will be great for banks, fintech startups, and enterprises. Businesses may get into one of Europe's fastest-growing payment marketplaces by using SEPA, DIAS, and IRIS to enable quick payments. You need to receive competent counsel to make the most of these prospects. By partnering with a cross-border payments expert like Transfi, businesses may develop their own solutions, simply connect to regional payment rails, and stay up to date on changes to Greek and European legislation.

Conclusion

A lot of things are changing about how people pay for items in Greece. SEPA, which guarantees European integration; the DIAS payment system, which gives Greece a strong domestic infrastructure; IRIS instant payments, which make things faster and easier; and the rapid growth of digital wallets in Greece are all helping Greece move closer to a modern, cashless society. The EUDI Wallet and compulsory e-invoicing are two examples of government programs that show they are serious about going digital.

Greece is steadily getting closer to a completely integrated and future-ready financial system, but small and medium-sized firms are still having trouble using it, and there are still issues with security and digital literacy. This reform makes things easier for banks, businesses, and consumers. It also allows them to be a part of Greece's future payments and fintech. Companies like TransFi are helping Greece become more a part of the global digital economy by making it easy and cheap to transfer money across borders.

FAQs:

1. What is SEPA in Greece, and why is it important?

SEPA makes Greece's banking system more efficient and lowers costs by treating cross-border euro payments in the same manner as local payments.

2. What does the DIAS payment system do for Greece's economy?

The main place to make payments in the country is DIAS. It handles more than twice the country's GDP in credit transfers, direct debits, card payments, and rapid transactions.

3. What is IRIS, and what are quick payments in Greece?

The IRIS platform lets consumers in Greece make quick payments. It employs SEPA instant transfers to finalise transactions between people and businesses in just a few seconds.

4. How many people in Greece use electronic wallets?

More and more people are using digital wallets like PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and Qiwi. Usage is predicted to go up by more than 50% from 2022 to 2026.

5. What issues does Greece have with implementing digital payments?

Some of the concerns include that small and medium-sized businesses don't use digital tools very much, there aren't enough ICT specialists, there aren't enough individuals with digital skills, there are still grey payments, and cybersecurity dangers are getting worse.

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