Brussels, 28/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 24 April, without amendment, the European Parliament and the Council adopted two legislative proposals updating European rules applying to electronic payment services (see EUROPE 9882). At the end of 2002, the first rule on cross-border payments introduced a multilateral interchange fee (MIF) of €0.088, that the bank will invoice anyone who makes a cross-border direct debit payment. A directive sets out the conditions for entry of non-banking players onto the electronic currency market. With the adoption of the texts, this opens the road to final adoption of the two legislative acts as of first reading.
Applicable as of November 2009, the draft regulation introduces the principle of equality in fees invoiced for a national payment service or cross-border payment service of below €50,000. For cross-border direct debit payments, an MIF of €0.088 has been introduced, invoiced from the debtor's bank to the creditor's bank, for a transitional period of three years (November 2009/November 2012). “For cross-border direct debit, this regulation sets a level of interchange fee at €0.088 per transaction during a transitional period”, explains the rapporteur, Margarita Starkevièiûtë (ALDE, Lithuania), in a press release. She highlights the fact that “the parties to the multilateral agreement are free to determine a lower amount or agree on a zero interchange fee”, if they so wish. At the end of March, the Commission and the ECB had stated that IMFs would be authorised for this kind of payment over a transitional period in order to facilitate setting in place of the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA). (EUROPE 9870). Directive 2000/46/EC frames the electronic money market for assets held on smart cards like Proton in Belgium or Geldkarte in Germany. The recasting of this directive is applicable 18 months after its adoption and aims to promote competition on the electronic money markets by authorising non-bank agents (such as mobile phone operators). Provisions in Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services will be applicable to all operators and will govern requests/the granting of and withdrawal of authorisation, as well as the registration and control of providers (EUROPE 9523). The minimum capital requirement is brought down from €1 million to €350,000. The Commission initially proposed €125,000 and the report by John Purvis (EPP-ED, United Kingdom) adopted by the economic and monetary affairs committee called for €200,000. Operators will be allowed to grant single loans if the latter are directly linked to payments and not granted for funds in exchange for the issuing of electronic money. (M.B./trans/jl/rh)