The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is calling for amendments to current European Union legislation in order to ensure companies such as Apple provide payment apps with access to a smartphone’s NFC chip to give users a choice of in-store payment methods on their device... More
The European Union’s Digital Covid Certificate is now live across the EU as well as in non-member states Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, enabling residents to be issued with a proof of their Covid-19 vaccination status, negative Covid test result or recovery from the illness that is recognised regionwide... More
The European Union has confirmed that it plans to introduce an EU-wide digital wallet that will enable all EU citizens to link their national digital identity with other personal attributes including their driving licence, diplomas and bank account details and store them on their mobile phone... More
Seven European countries — Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland — have begun issuing the European Union’s Digital Covid Certificate one month ahead of the full 1 July rollout announced last week... More
The European Union’s proposed digital Covid certificate that will enable EU residents to confirm that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the illness is “well on track to be ready by the end of June”, according to the European Commission... More
The European Commission’s investigation into Apple Pay is “moving ahead on top of an investigation into how the iPhone maker requires software developers to use its in-app purchasing system”, the EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has told Bloomberg News... More
The European Council has endorsed plans to introduce a fully integrated retail payment system that will enable instant cross-border payments and financial transfers throughout the European Union... More
European Union residents will be able to confirm that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the illness using an EU-wide Digital Green Certificate by the summer, according to a legislative proposal issued by the European Commission... More
The European Union is to present a legislative proposal this month for a digital ‘green pass’ vaccination certificate that will enable residents to prove that they have been inoculated against Covid-19... More
The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) are to consider launching a digital euro project towards the middle of 2021. “Such a project would answer key design and technical questions,” the two institutions say in a joint statement. More
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has opened an investigation into whether companies such as Apple are in breach of competition rules if they limit the access payments apps have to a smartphone’s NFC chip and restrict a user’s choice of contactless in-store payment method on that device... More
The European Union is to publish a report next week that will provide further information on the results of its investigation into Apple Pay and could lead to new legislation forcing Apple to provide more open access to the NFC chip in its devices, according to “documents obtained by Bloomberg”... More
The European Commission has opened a preliminary investigation into Visa’s rules regarding staged digital wallets, the payments network has revealed in a note added to its latest quarterly filing... More
The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation “to assess whether Apple’s conduct in connection with Apple Pay violates EU competition rules”... More
Joint industry letter on SCA delay due to Covid-19 — European Payment Institutions Federation — “It is now clear that the Covid-19 crisis has significantly reduced the capacity available to progress SCA development and implementation… The signatories therefore call on the European Commission and the EBA to consider appropriate additional measures and coordination to assist in the smooth transition to SCA in all EU Member States equally. In the light of Covid-19, this should also include the possibility of an at least additional six months for the market to be fully SCA ready.”
The European Commission is planning to create an integrated EU payments system that will “facilitate the use of national payment services across Europe and reduce the dependency from international card operators such as Visa or Mastercard,” an EU official has told Euractiv... More
New payment method for air tickets successfully demonstrated — International Air Transport Association — “IATA Pay is an industry-supported initiative to develop a new payment option for consumers when purchasing a ticket directly from an airline website. It is made possible by the European Commission’s second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), and the UK’s Open Banking regulation. For airlines, the advantages of IATA Pay are: Cheaper payment option compared to other alternatives; Highly secure; Faster cashflow with instant/near instant payment to the merchant; Simpler payment process resulting in fewer lost sales.”
Cross-border digital identification for EU countries: Major step for a trusted Digital Single Market — European Commission — “As of 29 September, the EU-wide legislation on the electronic identification (eIDAS Regulation) will enter into force enabling cross-border recognition of the electronic ID and allowing citizens and business to share their identity data when necessary. People will be able to use their electronic ID (eID) such as ID cards, driver licenses, bank cards and fill tax returns online, access medical records and online public services across the EU.”
Payment Services Directive (PSD2): Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) enabling consumers to benefit from safer and more innovative electronic payments — European Commission — “The RTS makes strong customer authentication (SCA) the basis for accessing one’s payment account, as well as for making payments online. This means that to prove their identity users will have to provide at least two separate elements out of these three: something they know (a password or PIN code); something they own (a card, a mobile phone); and something they are (biometrics, eg fingerprint or iris scan)… The use of SCA will become mandatory 18 months after the entry into force of the RTS, ie once the RTS is published in the Official Journal of the EU, scheduled for September 2019.”
Ministerial declaration on eGovernment — the Tallinn Declaration — European Commission — “We will in our countries… enable the private sector to make use of national eID schemes and trust services in securing the delivery of their digital services, where beneficial to the citizen… We will in our countries… make it possible for citizens and businesses to digitally manage their personal data held by the public administration.”