EPIF brought together the relevant stakeholders in the payments chain to discuss the implementation of SCA requirements with the European Commission and representatives of national competent authorities on Tuesday 21 May. Taking place in advance of the fast approaching 14 September deadline, the workshop was a unique opportunity to bring together EPIF members, representatives of PSPs, card schemes and the merchant community from the EU and Member States to provide a holistic overview of the requirements and challenges in implementing SCA.
Participants across the payment chain highlighted that they are working towards full compliance for regulated entities. Nevertheless, there are some challenges remaining that would impact the payment ecosystem. There was general agreement that a harmonised approach across the EU would be very helpful. Effective communication with customers and having a prepared infrastructure to ensure the continuity of smooth payments are also priorities for effective implementation.
The key recommendations coming out of the workshop and jointly supported by ECommerce Europe, Eurocommerce, Visa and EPIF were:
- The European Commission, EBA and national competent authorities should consider, as a matter of urgency, the introduction of a phased implementation approach to ensure all relevant stakeholders are adequately prepared or introduce a commonly agreed limited implementation period during which issuing PSPs could apply SCA on a risk based approach mapped against fraud levels. Time should also be given to all parties to effectively communicate the transition to SCA to their respective customers.
- In implementing the SCA rules, PSPs, merchants and regulators should consider the end consumer experience and to ensure that the consumer journey remains as smooth as possible while managing fraud levels effectively.
- The SCA requirements need to be communicated and implemented in a harmonised way EU-wide in order to avoid any arbitrage and distortions to the Single Market.
- The implementation of the SCA rules needs to factor in an effective understanding and consistent application of the exemption regime across the EU – as foreseen under the PSD2.
- The SCA rules need to go hand in hand with an effective communication strategy by all parties involved.
- Regulators and industry should assess and monitor the readiness of the infrastructure to comply with the SCA requirement.
Please find below a summary of the discussions.