14 Amendments of Marianne THYSSEN related to 2013/0265(COD)
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) For domestic transactions, a transition period is necessary to provide payment services providers and schemes with time to adapt to the new requirements. Therefore, after a two year period following the entry into force of this Regulation and in order to provide for a completion of an internal market for card- based payments, the caprules on interchange fees for consumer card transactions should be extended to cover all, cross-border and domestic payments. In view of the trend in the past ten years, it is likely that the issue and use of consumer debit cards will continue to increase, with the result that, after the transitional period, the aim of encouraging the issue and use of debit cards will no longer justify retaining interchange payments for debit cards.
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) The Honour all Cards Rule is a twofold obligation imposed by issuing payment services providers and payment card schemes on payees to, on the one hand, accept all the cards of the same brand ('Honour all Products' - element), irrespective of the different costs of these cards, and on the other hand irrespective of the individual issuing bank which has issued the card ('Honour all Issuers' – element). It is in the interest of the consumer that for the same category of cards the payee cannot discriminate between issuers or cardholders, and payments schemes and payment service providers can impose such obligation on them. Therefore, although the 'Honour all Issuers' element of the Honour all Cards Rule is a justifiable rule within a payment card system, since it prevents that payees from discriminating between the individual banks which have issued a card, the 'Honour all Products' element is essentially a tying practice that has the effect of tying acceptance of low fee cards to acceptance of high fee cards. A removal of the '‘Honour all Products'’ element of the Honour All Cards Rule would allow merchants to limit the choice of payment cards they offer to low(er) cost payment cards only, which would also benefit all consumers through reduced merchants' costs. Merchants accepting debit cards would then not be forced also to accept credit cards, and those accepting credit cards would not be forced to accept commercial cards. However, to protect the consumer and his ability to use the payment cards as often as possible, merchantConsumers who do not own or use a costly payment card must not be compelled to cross-subsidise the use of such costly payment cards by those consumers swhould be obliged to accept all cards that are subject to the same regulated interchange fee have the opportunity to use them and benefit from the related reward programmes. Such a limitation would also result in a more competitive environment for cards with interchange fees not regulated under this Regulation, as merchants would gain more negotiating power as regards the conditions under which they accept such cards. Consumers would benefit from a lower retail price due to the reduction in merchants’ costs. Moreover, merchants must not prevent consumers from rejecting an automatic preferential selection installed by the merchant in his equipment and opting for their own preferred payment instrument among the categories of payment cards or equivalent payment instruments accepted by the merchant.
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) For the effective functioning of the limitations to the Honour All Cards Rule certain information is indispensable. First, payees and payers should have the means to identify the different categories of cards. Therefore, the various categories should be identifiable visibly and electronically, either on the device or on the payment terminal. Secondly, also the payer should be informed about the acceptance of his payment instrument(s) at a given point of sale. It is necessary that any limitation on the use of a given brand to be announced by the payee to the payer, at the latest at the same time and under the same conditions as the information that a given brand is accepted.
Amendment 83 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30 a (new)
Recital 30 a (new)
(30a) A payment is an agreement between the payer and the payee. In order for competition between brands to be effective, it is important that the choice of payment application should be made by users, not imposed by the upstream market, comprising payment card systems, payment service providers or processors. This does not prevent payers and payees from setting an automatic choice of application, where technically feasible, provided that this choice can be changed for each transaction. If the payee selects an application supported by both, the user must be able to reject it and opt for his own preferred application.
Amendment 202 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. With effect from two years after the entry into force of this Regulation, payment service providers shall not offer or request a per transaction interchange fee or other agreed remuneration with an equivalent object or effect of more than 0,2 % of the value of the transaction for any debit card based transactions.
Amendment 256 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
1. Any schemes rules and rules in licensing agreements or equivalent measures that hinder or prevent an issuer from co- badging two or more different brands of payment instruments on a card, telecommunication, digital or IT device shall be prohibited.
Amendment 262 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2
Article 8 – paragraph 2
2. Any difference in treatment of issuers or acquirers in schemes rules and rules in licensing agreements concerning co- badging or equivalent co-residence of different brands or applications on a card, telecommunication, digital or IT device shall be objectively justified and non- discriminatory.
Amendment 264 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 3
Article 8 – paragraph 3
3. Payment card schemes shall not impose reporting requirements, obligations to pay fees or other similar obligations with the same object or effect on card issuing and acquiring payment services providers for transactions carried out with any device on which their brand is present in relation to transactions for which their scheme is not used.
Amendment 266 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 4
Article 8 – paragraph 4
4. Any routing principles or equivalent measures aimed at directing transactions through a specific channel or process and other technical and security standards and requirements with respect to the handling of more than one payment card brand or equivalent on a card, telecommunication, digital or IT device shall be non- discriminatory and shall be applied in a non-discriminatory manner.
Amendment 269 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 5
Article 8 – paragraph 5
5. Where a payment device offers the choice between different brands of payment instruments, the brand applied to the payment transaction at issue shall be determined by the payer at the point of sale. Payees may nonetheless refuse certain cards and payment instruments in accordance with Article 10.
Amendment 273 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 6
Article 8 – paragraph 6
6. Payment card schemes, issuers, acquirers and payment card handling infrastructure providers shall not insert automatic mechanisms, software or devices on the payment instrument or at equipment applied at the point of sale which limit the choice of application by the payer when using a co-badged payment instrument. Payees, on the other hand, shall retain the option of installing automatic mechanisms in the equipment used at the point of sale which make a priority selection of a particular brand or application, with the proviso that the payer must always be able to reject this choice in favour of his own preference.
Amendment 284 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. Payment schemes and payment service providers shall not apply any rule that may oblige payees accepting cards and other payment instruments issued by one issuing payment service provider within the framework of a payment instruments scheme to also accept other payment instruments of the same brand and/or category issued by other issuing payment service providers within the framework of the same scheme, except if they are subject to the same regulated interchange fee which, moreover, complies with the caps set under this Regulation.
Amendment 291 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 3
Article 10 – paragraph 3
3. Merchants deciding not to accept all cards of a payment card scheme or other payment instruments of a payment card schemebased thereon shall inform consumers in a clear and unequivocal manner at the latest at the same time as they inform the consumer on the acceptance of other cards and payment instruments of the scheme. TIn the case of physical trade, that information shall be displayed prominently at the entrance of the shop, or at the till or. In the case of electronic trade, the information shall be displayed prominently on the website or other applicable electronic or mobile medium, and. At all events, the information shall be provided to the payer in good time before he enters into a purchase agreement with the payee.
Amendment 296 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 4
Article 10 – paragraph 4
4. Issuing payment service providers shall ensure that their payment instruments are visibly and electronically identifiable, either in the device or on the payment terminal, enabling payees and payers to identify unequivocally which brands and categories of prepaid, debit, credit or commercial cards or card based payments based on these are chosen by the payer.