Brussels, 13/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 13 October, the European Commission submitted its recasting of the 200/46/EC e-Money Directive. This aims to facilitate market access for new operators such as those from the mobile phone sector. It notes that the current volume of e-money is extremely low, mainly because of the number of payment market entrants after adoption of the e-Money directive was not as high as expected. In August 2007, the amount circulating on the e-money market was close to €1bn, a low figure compared to the 637 billion in real currency circulating in the EU. At the end of 2007, the market only counted 20 e-money institutions.
The evolution of a legal framework will be via an update of the definition of e-money, so that that latter is neutral from a technological point of view. The new definition will cover electronic money held on payment devices in the holder's possession (prepaid cards or electronic purse) or stored remotely at a server (network or software money). Reform will introduce a new prudential regime for electronic money institutions. The new requirements include an initial capital of €125.000 for enabling new players to enter the market. The authorisation procedures and exemption regime, which provides certain exemptions to smaller players on some authorisation requirements, will be aligned with those of Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services, which is due to come into force in November 2009 (EUROPE 9523).
The European Commission wants to boost the protection of consumers using new forms of electronic payment and is suggesting clarifying the reimbursements obligations of operators. Consumers would have the right to claim back their electronic money at any moment. Special regulations will apply when payment is made to mobile phone operators. It is suggested that the money-laundering rules be simplified to bring them into line with the payment services directive. (M.B/transl.rh)