“Today’s deal is a win for the Parliament by establishing a liability provision for online platforms where fraud started. In certain cases, they now have to reimburse banks who have reimbursed defrauded customers”, declared one of the European Parliament’s main negotiators, René Repasi (S&D, German), on the announcement of an agreement reached on Thursday 27 November between the EU’s co-legislators on the legislative package aimed at reforming the European regulatory framework for payment services (see EUROPE 13717/13).
This secondary responsibility of platforms was one of the European Parliament’s main demands. “This is a significant victory”, a source told Agence Europe.
On Thursday, the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union spoke of “a major step forward in the fight against fraud”.
In particular, the rules as approved will aim to respond to new and increasingly common forms of fraud, such as ‘spoofing’, a form of computer deception that consists of usurping an identity, including that of a payment service provider.
The IBAN numbers of payment accounts will have to be checked against the name of the corresponding bank account holder before a transfer can be made, as is already the case for instant transfers in euros. In addition, payment service providers will be held liable if they fail to fulfil their obligations to use certain preventive tools.
Finally, major online platforms and search engines will only be able to advertise financial services to consumers in a given EU Member State if the company providing those services is duly regulated and authorised in that Member State.
Transparency, access to cash and open banking. The new rules will also aim to introduce greater transparency for ATM transactions.
This means that service providers will be legally obliged to inform users of all charges due and the exchange rates applied before any transaction is carried out. Similarly, companies providing card payment services to merchants will have to clearly specify the fees charged for their services.
The rules will also aim to facilitate access to cash, particularly for people living in rural areas where access to ATMs can be difficult.
Morten Løkkegaard (Renew Europe, Danish), European Parliament rapporteur on the new ‘PSD3’ directive, announced on Thursday that “people will now be able to withdraw money in a shop without being forced to make a purchase”.
However, to prevent abuse, these withdrawals will require chip technology and a PIN code, and will be subject to a maximum limit of €150 or the equivalent in national currency.
The negotiators also approved measures to boost competition in payments, by facilitating the development of open banking services. Banks will have to provide equitable access to account data, and users will have a dashboard to monitor the authorisations they grant.
Lastly, the agreement reached by the co-legislators has simplified the authorisation of payment providers, with harmonised prudential rules and a streamlined process for players already authorised under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
From now on, technical work will be carried out on the texts so that they can then be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the EU Council to come into force.
The European Commission has welcomed the agreement reached. “The outcome delivers a robust and forward-looking framework”, a spokesman told Agence Europe on Thursday. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)