Nexi: Payment systems are critical infrastructure for the European economy

Advanced payment systems have become an essential component of the economy and daily life. We talked about everything this entails with Marcello Sala, president of Nexi.

What role have payment systems assumed today in the functioning of the economy?

"Their role has changed profoundly. They are no longer just a tool through which a transaction is concluded: they have become an essential component of the functioning of the economy and daily life. When everything works we almost tend not to notice it, but an interruption can have immediate consequences on citizens, businesses and services. This is why today we must look at payment systems as critical infrastructures, for which security, operational continuity and resilience are inseparable elements. And when an infrastructure takes on this importance, its protection becomes a responsibility that goes beyond the individual operator and takes on a systemic dimension. Xi operates in over 20 European countries and serves millions of merchants. Our role therefore entails a precise responsibility: to contribute every day to the security, reliability and resilience of the European payments ecosystem".

How much is cybersecurity changing in the world of payments?

"Cybersecurity is an essential condition for trust in digital payments. Threats evolve rapidly and also use technologies such as artificial intelligence. The response must therefore evolve equally rapidly, through continuous investments in technology, skills and prevention capabilities. Security is not measured only in the ability to counter a threat. It is measured in the ability to guarantee safe, simple and reliable services every day, even in moments of greatest stress. This is what citizens and businesses expect from a payment system".

What is needed to strengthen the security of the system as a whole?

"I believe that the fundamental step is to combine the responsibility of individual operators with true system responsibility. A payment connects banks, circuits, processors and technological operators and depends, in turn, on other essential infrastructures, starting from telecommunications and energy. This growing interdependence means that the security of each individual also depends on the ability of the entire ecosystem to prevent and react. For this reason, collaboration between companies, institutions and authorities is now an integral part of security: it means promptly sharing information on threats, coordinating response capabilities and preparing together to crisis management. A concrete example: in the last twelve months we have contributed to the closure of around 1,600 Nexi.it clone sites, a result that requires the collaboration of platforms, providers and law enforcement agencies and concretely demonstrates how important a coordinated response is.

Looking to the future, how should the European payments system evolve?

"It will have to be increasingly secure, resilient and capable of guaranteeing continuity even in exceptional conditions. But the challenge goes beyond the technological dimension alone. It means continuing to invest in cybersecurity and skills, but also strengthening collaboration between the public and private sectors and contributing to the development of the European infrastructures of the future. I am thinking, for example, of the digital euro. Security, resilience and the ability to guarantee continuity will have to be an integral part of its design, together with simplicity and efficiency for citizens and businesses. Nexi, for the role it plays in the European payments ecosystem, wants to contribute to this path by making technology, skills and industrial capacity available. In the end everything comes back to a fundamental concept: citizens and businesses must be able to count on safe and reliable payment systems every day, even in the most complex situations.