Legal issues for the UK consumer finance industry
On 2 September 2019, the European Payments Council published a press release on the operational impacts of a “no deal” Brexit on credit transfers and direct debits from the Single Euro Payments Area.
The European Payments Council sets out steps which should be taken to prepare for a “no deal” Brexit. Firms should consider these steps as a matter of urgency.
On 2 September 2019, the UK Financial Conduct Authority published a new webpage on ‘strong customer authentication’ under the Payment Services Regulations 2017.
The webpage provides some useful insight into the FCA’s views on what firms should do, the use of eIDAS certificates and the impact (or not!) or Brexit.
On 9 May 2019, the UK Payment Systems Regulator (the PSR) published its response to the first consultation on the proposed implementation of the confirmation of payee service, and published a new consultation on a specific direction on the implementation of the service.
After considering the feedback, the PSR has refined its approach. It has decided to give a specific direction to Lloyds Group, Barclays Group, HSBC Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander Group and Nationwide Building Society (being the six largest payment services providers).
The proposed effect of the specific direction is to require:
– From 31 December 2019: the directed PSPs must respond to compliant confirmation of payee requests; and
– From 31 March 2020: the directed PSPs must send confirmation of payee requests and present responses to their customers.
The consultation period ends on 5 June 2019.
On 18 March 2019, the European Banking Authority (the EBA) launched its central electronic register under the Payment Services Directive II. The register (which you can access by clicking here) provides information on all payment services and electronic money instutitions in the EU. The register can be accessed free of charge.
At the moment, firms registered with the Financial Conduct Authority appear on the EBA’s register.