In this inaugural episode of The Payments Trilogue, hosts Michael Salmony, Gijs Boudewijn, and Ralf Ohlhausen introduce their backgrounds and the purpose of the podcast. They aim to explore the evolving landscape of payments in Europe, focusing on collaboration and innovative approaches by banks and fintechs to address current challenges in the industry. This industry trilogue shall lead to more cooperation and self-regulation and thereby less top-down regulation by the EU authorities.