Included in this edition of InContact: PayPal Holdings, Inc/iZettle AB merger inquiry;  Payments are a-changin' but traditional means are still here; 2018 Payment Threats and Fraud Trends Report and more...

UK

UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) about monitoring the IFR and RTS

The PSR has signed an MoU that sets out how the PSR will work with other EU authorities to monitor the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) and the Regulatory Technical Standards Regulation (RTS Regulation).

PSR, 6 December 2018

PayPal Holdings, Inc / iZettle AB merger inquiry

The CMA has been investigating PayPal’s $2.2 billion takeover of Swedish mobile payments company iZettle. The CMA has found that PayPal could face insufficient competition in the UK after acquiring its market-leading rival. The finding raises concerns that the merger could result in customers, which include small and medium-sized businesses, paying higher prices or receiving a lower quality service.

CMA, 5 December 2018

Cyber and Technology Resilience: Themes from cross-sector survey 2017-18

The FCA have published their findings from surveying 296 firms during 2017 and 2018 to assess their technology and cyber capabilities. The report highlights the key themes from the self-assessment alongside data about the operational incidents firms have reported to the FCA. The report identifies areas of strength and those for improvement across all sectors.

FCA, 28 November 2018

New Head of Policy and Chief Economist start work at the PSR

The PSR's new Head of Policy, Chris Hemsley, started work in the week beginning the 26 November 2018. In addition, Matthew Cherry also begun his new role as the PSR’s Chief Economist. Matthew is a senior manager at the PSR and also served as Interim Head of Policy until Chris’ arrival.

PSR, 28 November 2018

PSR consults on Confirmation of Payee implementation

The PSR has launched  a consultation on general directions for the implementation of Confirmation of Payee (CoP), which is being rolled out in order to protect people from Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams. The deadline for comments is 4 January 2019.

PSR, 23 November 2018

The Bank of Canada, Bank of England and Monetary Authority of Singapore share assessment on emerging opportunities for digital transformation in cross-border payments

Bank of England (BoE) has collaborated with Bank of Canada and the Monetary Authority of Singapore on cross-border interbank payments and settlements report. The report ‘Cross-border interbank payments and settlements’ is a cross-jurisdictional industry collaboration between the BoC, the MAS and the BoE, in addition to participating financial institutions, to examine the existing challenges and frictions that arise when undertaking cross-border payments. The report explores proposals for new and more efficient models for processing cross-border transactions.

BoE, 15 November 2018

PSR responds to third ATM Footprint Report from LINK

The PSR has responded to third ATM Footprint Report from LINK. LINK’s latest figures show that in September a number of free-to-use (FTU) ATMs in more remote areas (‘protected’ ATMs) were withdrawn from service by the companies providing them. Since last month PSR has continued to engage with stakeholders. This included a meeting involving the banks, LINK, the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England to discuss the matter further. In the meeting the banks expressed support for LINK’s approach and recognised that a long-term solution is needed.

PSR, 14 November 2018

Worldwide

Payments are a-changin' but traditional means are still here

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published their latest statistics on payments. It points out that electronic methods to pay are growing swiftly and are being used for ever smaller payments, whilst traditional payment methods still play important roles in most countries.

BIS, 7 December 2018

Guidelines on the conditions to benefit from an exemption from the contingency mechanism under Article 33(6) of Regulation (EU) 2018/389 (RTS on SCA & CSC)

The EBA has published its final Guidelines on the conditions that account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) must meet in order to be exempted from the obligation to implement the fallback mechanism under the Regulation (EU) 2018/389 on strong customer authentication and common and secure communication (RTS on SCA & CSC). The Guidelines aim at providing clarity to ASPSPs and national competent authorities (CAs) regarding the elements that should be considered for the purpose of an exemption and at ensuring a consistent application of the conditions for an exemption across the 28 EU Member States. The EBA acknowledges that the timelines for meeting the conditions for an exemption are tight and, therefore, strongly encourages ASPSPs to start testing, to launch their production interfaces and to engage with their CA as soon as possible before the September 2019 deadline. The draft Guidelines which the EBA published on 13 June 2018 will apply from 1 January 2019.

EBA, 4 December 2018

SFD Designated Payment and Securities Settlement Systems

ESMA have updated the list of payment and securities settlement systems designated by Member States under Article 10(1) of the Settlement Finality Directive 98/26/EC (SFD).

ESMA, 30 November 2018

TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS) goes live

The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched an innovative pan-European service for settling electronic payments instantly. TARGET instant payment settlement (TIPS) uses central bank money to settle payments individually in less than 10 seconds.

ECB, 30 November 2018

2018 Payment Threats and Fraud Trends Report

The European Payments Council (EPC) has published their 2018 Payment Threat and Fraud Trends Report. The report provides an overview of the most important threats that affect electronic payments such as social engineering, malware, advanced persistent threats, mobile device related attacks, denial of service attacks, etc.

EPC, 29 November 2018

EPC updates 2017 SEPA scheme rulebooks

The EPC has released updated 2017 Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) scheme rulebook versions for the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme, the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme, the SEPA Direct Debit Core (SDD Core) scheme and the SDD Business-to-Business (SDD B2B) scheme. The new versions will take effect on 1 January 2019.

EPC, 23 November 2018

Onshoring EU Regulatory Technical Standards under the Interchange Fee Regulation

The PSR is consulting on its proposed amendments to the retained regulatory technical standards regulation (RTS Regulation) adopted under Article 7 of the EU Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) for onshoring purposes. The amendments are designed to ensure the RTS Regulation can still operate effectively once the UK has left the EU and that it is consistent with the changes made by the Treasury in the draft Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 SI (the draft SI) onshoring the retained IFR. Consultation ends: 17 December 2018.

PSR, 19 November 2018

Key findings of World Payments Report 2018

Capgemini, in conjunction with BNP Paribas recently published the “World Payments Report 2018” (WPR) which provides insightful analysis of the development of the new payment landscape based on executive interviews and online surveys. 

EPC, 15 November 2018