Regulation

MTN, Standard Bank face $136 million patent claim

South Africa's telecom company MTN and Standard Bank face a claim of up to 1 billion rand ($136 million) for infringement of technology patents in their joint venture MTN Banking.

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FinArch supports mobile payment company with compliance

Financial Architects (FinArch) says that the Belgian electronic payment issuer Tunz.com has implemented successfully Financial Studio Compliance to meet the local regulatory requirements.

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How to build sustainable regulation - By Hannes Van Rensburg, CEO, Fundamo

At the recent Mobile Money Summit in Barcelona there was much concern amongst the gathered parties over the unwieldy and inconsistent regulation being implemented around the globe with regards to mobile payments.

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Notes on mobile money regulation

The issue of how to effectively regulate mobile financial services was discussed by representatives from Vodafone, CGAP and the World Bank at the Mobile Money Summit.

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Central Bank position on m-banking under fire

Even as the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) goes the extra mile to accommodate the innovative mobile money transfer concept, this has not gone down well with the banking fraternity.

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EBA Clearing banks launch direct debit implementation forum

Future participants in the Sepa Direct Debit (SDD) Services of EBA Clearing convened today to launch an implementation forum. The central objective of the forum is to ensure a smooth start-up of the EBA Clearing SDD Services and promote commercial development of the SDD Core and B2B payment instruments.

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UK Rail agree on m-ticketing standard

Masabi is working in conjunction with the Rail Settlement Plan (RSP), the rail ticketing body jointly owned by UK train operating companies and the rail operators themselves, to developed a new standard for secure barcode rail ticketing.

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SWP ratified but delays still expected

The chicken and egg scenario that has bogged down the embryonic NFC market appears to have taken steps forward in recent weeks. The mobile operators’ preference for the Single Wire Protocol (SWP) form for NFC implementation received official endorsement from the GSM Association last month, following the final ratification of the standard and a signing of a memorandum of understanding with EMVCo. in Q4 2008. Now some industry insiders are expecting large volume shipments of NFC handsets in the second half of Q2 2009.

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PSD Pricing feedback required

As part of the implementation of the PSD many of you will recall that the FSA published a consultation document, in February, on the proposed fees that it will levy for firms wishing to apply in the UK to become an authorised payments institution or a small payments information.

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E-money reforms pave the way for new competitors in European payments market

The European Commission has approved proposals for a fundamental reform of the rules governing electronic money institutions, paving the way for mobile operators and other 'hybrid' institutions to obtain e-money licenses.

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Missing a golden opportunity?

Ongoing work on the SEPA Cards Framework aims to develop new generation of payment standards for Europe. But are participants are meeting the needs of the 1990s rather than addressing current and future challenges?It is already a tired cliché to say that SEPA represents an opportunity to define new, common payment standards for Europe, replacing the patchwork of standards that have existed in the past. By Mike Hendry

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Rebooting SEPA for Cards

The SEPA for Cards project appears to have stalled and there is increasing evidence of growing disillusionment with the SEPA Cards Framework. What actions must the key stakeholders take to reinvigorate an initiative that has lost its sense of direction?Governments and central banks are likely to be in reflective mood as they review the difficult events of the past three months and begin to rethink the future banking regulatory environment. One thing is clear; we must all expect a return to the basics of banking and a refocus on core traditional activities.By Peter Jones

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E-Money Institutions are affected too

Several areas of the PSD affect organisations registered under the e-Money Directive as issuers of electronic cash. Nick Drew, executive director at ClickandBuy outlined them at the European Card Acquiring Forum, which took place in Brussels in early June. For example Title III article 34 permits derogations to information requirements for low value payment instruments and e-money but only up to thresholds of €150. “We would strongly suggest that member states adopt the maximum threshold,” said Drew, while urging that the threshold should be raised to €500.

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PSD puts a squeeze on the banks

More than just a way of introducing new payments players to the European market, the PSD lays onerous compliance requirements on banks, which may not just add costs but also damage revenues. The Payment Services Directive, adopted by the European Parliament in April 2007, introduces a new category of payment service provider – the payment institution. But while much attention has been focused on payment institutions and the competitive threat they may pose to banks, the PSD is also full of regulations that apply to most payment service providers, banks included.By Jane Adams

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EPAS membership

Atos Worldline (including former Banksys), BP, CETREL, Equens (former Interpay Nederland), Galitt, Groupement des Cartes Bancaires “CB” (co-ordinator), Integri, Ingenico (including former MoneyLine), Lyra Network, PAN Nordic Card Association, PayLife (former Austria Zahlungsverkehrsysteme), Retail Services Company, Royal Bank of Scotland, SERMEPA, SIBS, Thales e-Transactions, Total, Wincor Nixdorf, Zentraler Kreditausschuss (with the support of Security Research & Consulting GmbH).

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SEPA – the drive for standardization

The SCF identifies four different domains for interoperability:

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SEPA at the POS

Under pressure from the ECB to step up standardization work, the European Payments Council is trying to clarify grey areas in the SEPA Cards FrameworkThe January 1 arrival of the Single Euro Payments Area saw SEPA credit transfers launched on schedule, with SEPA direct debits to be implemented at the latest by November 2009 and as early as July 2008. SEPA does not have to be implemented for cards until 2010, and in the meantime the commercial framework is murkier than ever after the European Commission’s December decision to rule against MasterCard’s interchange and to re-examine Visa Europe (p4-5).By Jane Adams

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Characteristics of a SEPA leader

SEPA, the Single European Payment Area, has created a single market in cards and payments. It is bringing down country barriers, has already triggered stronger competition among banks across Europe, and has given processor consolidation and outsourcing a push.Payments and cards are an important business for banks. Transactional revenues alone represent a market of €60 billion-€70 billion annually. Half of these revenues result from cards, mainly from Interchange and Merchant Service Charges (MSCs). In the SEPA, leading banks and processors have started competing for these revenues across Europe.By Andreas Pratz and Juergen von der Lehr

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The US invasion of Europe

There has long been a joke that SEPA actually stands for ‘Send European Payments to America’. As with all good jokes, it contains an element of truth. Collectively now a bigger market than the US, over the past few years Europe has become a focus of US acquirers, processors and other players in the payments industry looking to expand. Many of them are doing this by acquisition.By Jane Adams

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