On Wednesday 25 January, the Court justice of the EU ruled that an online bank may send customers contractual modifications directly via the electronic inbox built into its website, as long as the client has been notified in advance, by letter or email, that the message is being sent and that he or she may store the information received and reproduce it for an appropriate period of time, without the bank having the option to modify the content unilaterally.
In so doing, the Court is recognising in its judgement (case C-375/15) that the bank's website may be deemed a "permanent medium" within the meaning of Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services in the single market, if it allows the customer to store information addressed to him or her in person for the purposes of consultation at a later date, for a period of time in line with its purpose, and to reproduce it. Additionally, there may be no possibility for the bank unilaterally to change this information.
The Court also takes the view that information sent under these conditions to customers by the bank may be considered to have been supplied within the meaning of the same directive, if it was accompanied by active behaviour on the part of the bank designed to notify the customer of the existence and availability of the information on the bank's website. This behaviour may consist of sending the customer a letter or email to the address he or she usually uses to communicate with other individuals (in general, an address that is different from the email address of the customer hosted on the bank's website). (Original version in French by Francesco Gariazzo)