The Cross-Border Payments Regulation & COVID-19

Statement from Gino Ravaioli, Chairman of the DCC Forum
April 2020

The revised Cross-Border Payments Regulation, which has been agreed following an extensive examination by the European Commission into the issue of transparency within the payments industry, is due to take effect in all member states from 19 April 2020.

This regulation, which has been welcomed by the DCC Forum, brings a set of standardised transparency requirements for both providers of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and providers of traditional international card payment services, to give cardholders consistent and comparable information at point of purchase. It will apply to card-based transactions and credit transfers, and will allow consumers to evaluate different conversion options so they can make a more informed choice over payment option when purchasing abroad.

We have been working closely with our membership during this time to provide support and guidance as they seek to undertake the necessary technical revisions to IT infrastructures and customer-facing interfaces to comply with the requirements set out within the regulation.

Alongside this, we cannot ignore the ongoing and extraordinary circumstances linked to the COVID- 19 crisis, which is continuing to have a global impact on consumers and our members. We have been in regular communication with the European Commission regarding this matter, raising concerns on behalf of our membership about completing the required preparation in time with the 19 April 2020 deadline within the current environment.

The European Commission has endorsed our viewpoint and in recognising the challenges that we are all currently facing, appealed to the National Competent Authorities to consider the need to enforce the new rules coming into effect from 19 April 2020 in a flexible manner. This should not come at the detriment of the consumer but take a reasonable approach towards payment service provider's ability to implement the new rules, while at the same time preserving the stability and continuity of online banking interfaces under the present circumstances. It will be at the discretion of the National Competent Authorities to take the European Commission's request into account following the implementation date.

During this ongoing situation and throughout the roll out of the regulation, we will continue to support our membership and their customers. We welcome the additional measures that are being implemented as part of this, which closely align with our overarching principles of choice and transparency for cardholders abroad so that they have the most accurate and concise information to make the right decision for them.