P27 Nordic Payments withdraws clearing licence application, leaving the project’s future unclear
P27 Nordic Payments (P27) has withdrawn its clearing licence application from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, casting doubt on the grand project’s future.
P27 withdraws clearing licence application
This is the group’s second application for a clearing licence, lodged in 2022, after its initial application was rejected in 2019.
The withdrawal also comes after Denmark’s banking sector decided to go forward with other payment modernisation plans separate to the P27 project. Sweden also intends to follow a similar path.
P27, a joint initiative between Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank, says “new requirements and regulations” have challenged its operating model.
The fact that P27 will not handle Swish-flow in Sweden and the recent decision by the Danish banking sector “has put the company in a new position”.
P27 CEO Paula de Silva says the group is now “in a dialogue” with its bank members “to evaluate the best options going forward”.
“Our vision was to provide a better payments infrastructure to the 27 million people living in the Nordics, with an optimistic timeline.
“Lately, it is evident that our vision was too ambitious and complex.”
P27 was set to be the largest regional, cross-border, instant payment project ever attempted, linking payments between Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.
