Businesses and consumers in the 12-country eurozone are set to save money under a new single-payments area for credit and debit cards due to be set up within three years.

The European banking industry will soon pledge to introduce new eurozone payment schemes for electronic credit transfers and direct debits, as well as a unified framework for debit and credit cards, by January 2008. The move comes amid pressure from the European Commission, which had threatened to use legislation to force banks to accelerate moves allowing customers to enjoy the benefits of the EU's single market.