ECB Tumpel-Gugerell - SEPA for cards

09 September 2008

Independently of the outcome of the debate about the long term justification for an interchange fee the Commission would accept an interim solution, Mrs. Tumpel-Gugerell said interpreting the EC position.

Independently of the outcome of the debate about the long term justification for an interchange fee the Commission would accept an interim solution, ECB Executive Board Member Tumpel-Gugerell said interpreting the EC position announced last week. “Banks can start with the financial conditions for direct debits in use now – in some markets without interchange fee, in some markets with an interchange fee.”

 

The European Commission has so far not been convinced that an interchange fee is needed for the banks to offer direct debits, she noted. Instead, the European Commission can imagine that banks recover their costs in a different way, for instance by charging for rejected payments as it is the practice in parts of the euro area.

 

The main challenges for a SEPA integrated market include:

• A common legal framework, which would allow for example the existence of a single contract per scheme usable across Europe.
• Fixing European technical standards as soon as possible.
• Overcoming the the subsistence of rules and arrangements effectively hindering entry and/or activities of new competitors in some countries.
• Finally, for non-bank driven initiatives to be developed, direct access to the current account for payment institutions, at reasonable price is an essential element.

 

From the obstacles identified, action is still needed regarding the subsistence of national rules and arrangements and the issue of access to the bank account for payment institutions, at a reasonable price, Tumpel-Gugerell said.

 

The ECB currently prepares a set of Terms of Reference for the SEPA compliance of card schemes which will be published before the end of the year.

 

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