On 21 September 2021, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published a report on the platformisation of the EU banking and payments sector.

The EBA identifies a rapid growth in the use of digital platforms to ‘bridge’ customers and financial institutions, a trend expected to accelerate in line with the wider trend toward the digitisation of the EU financial sector. Platformisation presents a range of potential opportunities for both EU customers and financial institutions. However, new forms of financial, operational, and reputational interdependencies are emerging and the EBA identifies steps to strengthen supervisory capacity to monitor market developments.

The EBA also sets out in the report steps to enhance supervisory capacity to monitor market developments. As a priority, in 2022 the EBA will help Member State competent authorities (NCAs) to deepen their understanding of platform-based business models and the opportunities and risks arising by supporting NCAs in:

• Developing common questionnaires for regulated financial institutions on digital platform and enabler use. This approach will facilitate tailored and proportionate information-gathering against a fast-evolving market.
• Sharing information about financial institutions’ reliance on digital platforms and enablers to facilitate coordinated EU-wide monitoring.