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Payments newsletter: Betaaljournaal 27

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It is spring again, even in payments, with the awakening of new ways of paying, at the counter and online and with our latest annual report. The annual Pay at the Cash Register survey by DNB and the Payments Association shows that physical payment cards are giving way to virtual payment cards on our smartphones and smartwatches. The Home Shopping Market Monitor reports on shifts in online payments. Shopping Tomorrow looks at future, much easier and faster ways of paying online. That includes direct debits, which deserve a smooth and reliable way to provide digital direct debit mandates. The Instant Payments Regulation came into force at the beginning of this month. This offers great future prospects for online account-to-account payments, but also at the counter as an alternative to card payments. So many digital developments, and in the process we should not lose sight of accessibility and inclusion in payments. The European Accessibility Act coming into force next year could contribute to this. And finally, spring brought two new members to our fold: we welcomed Anadolu Bank and Yapi Kredi Nederland as members.

So spring brings us many new opportunities and challenges. I hope this newsletter can inspire readers in this respect.

Gijs Boudewijn, managing director

Illustratie van een paarse hanger met het witte getal 27 erop, waar een getekende hand met bruine huidskleur zachtjes tegenaan tikt op een lichtpaarse achtergrond.

New phase of digital direct debit authorisation at Betaalvereniging Nederland

Since 1 February 2024, we have taken over the operational and technical product management of digital direct debit mandate from Currence. We aim to also take over legal ownership from Currence by the end of June 2024.

Digital Direct Debit Authorisation provides a simple method of issuing a valid direct debit authorisation online via the bank, without a paper signature. Incasso authorisation allows an account holder to have amounts agreed with a biller automatically debited from his or her payment account via European direct debits. Direct debit authorisation can be used, for example, to pay for a product or service ordered online by direct debit; for example, an online purchase in an online shop, an insurance policy or subscription taken out online, and to pay tuition fees or a membership. The Tax and Customs Administration now offers the option of having more and more types of assessments collected via digital Direct Debit authorisation.

The Payments Association wants to make digital Direct Debit Authorisation more efficient and effective. We therefore set up a task force together with the members and held talks with various stakeholders to shape our ambitions.

You can follow developments at https://www.incassomachtigen.nl/

Annual report 2023: Dutch payments leading in EU

Payments Association Netherlands presents its 2023 annual report. A common thread throughout our annual report are the developments and legislation in the EU that the Dutch payments system proves time and again to be an inspiration, setting the tone for European developments. In the Netherlands, for instance, Instant Payments were already widely introduced in 2019 under our direction. Last year, the EU agreed on legislation making Instant Payments mandatory everywhere in the EU from 2025.

For us, the year 2023 was also about inclusion and accessibility in everyday digital payments, and that remains high on our agenda this year. These and many more topics we focused on in 2023 can be found in our Annual Report 2023.

Successful migration to new version of ISO 20022 messaging standard

For the interbank exchange of SEPA non-cash transactions, there is the ISO 20022 message standard. A new version of this standard was due to be introduced in November 2023, along with changes to EPC’s SEPA Rulebooks. Unfortunately, the EPC was forced to postpone the introduction date to March 2024. Despite the fact that most participants were ready, the EPC considered the risk of maintaining the original implementation date too high. Isolating participants who were not ready proved impossible, partly because the volume of cross-border SEPA payments today is significant.

At DNB’s request, the Payments Association set up an interbank task force to exercise tight control over the progress of testing and preparations for delayed implementation. This task force held weekly meetings from mid-September to the end of March on progress and on special measures to be ready on time in the Netherlands. There were also weekly status reports to DNB. The bottlenecks were decreasing, test results were improving and the parties involved were ready in time for the (delayed) implementation, with a stable environment. The banks and Worldline determined that everyone could still migrate responsibly. Consequently, between 15 and 18 March 2024, this went almost flawlessly. We will organise a final evaluation with members.

Accessibility Act through the Senate

On 2 April last, the Senate passed the ‘Implementing Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services Act’.

The Lower House had already passed it on 14 March.
The act is an important milestone in making Dutch products and services more accessible. The act incorporates the European AccessibilityAct( EAA) into various national laws. From 28 June 2025, Dutch companies are obliged to make their (especially digital) products and services sufficiently accessible to everyone. Products and services covered by the act include webshops, customer service, laptops, smartphones, payment and ATM machines, ticket and check-in machines in public transport, the 112 emergency number and banking services. At the Payments Association, the Task Force European Accessibility Act (TFEAA) is working hard to implement all legal requirements. The TFEAA holds regular consultations on this with regulator AFM (Financial Markets Authority) and various interest groups.

New expertise group for digital accessibility of web shops

The new Accessibility Act, which will come into force in mid-2025, states that people with (functional) disabilities must have the same (online) opportunities throughout the European Union as people without (functional) disabilities.

Last March, together with bureau Level Level, we set up an expertise group to work for good digital accessibility of online shops and especially their check-out processes. This expertise group is part of Thuiswinkel.org’s broader Shopping Tomorrow programme.

With our expertise group, we are working on a blue paper to inspire the e-commerce market and provide practical tools for good digital accessibility. The central research question is: why should every webshop/checkout be digitally well accessible?

There is still a lot of work to be done but we are making great strides forward. On 10 April, we were guests of legal consultancy Pinsent Masons for our group’s second meeting in this joint adventure. Caitlin de Rooij of Level Level and Michel van Bommel of the Payments Association delved into the new laws and regulations and experience expert Rik Wouters talked about his personal experiences shopping online with his visual impairment.

We are proud to be part of this inspiring group of e-commerce professionals and payment service providers to make a difference for digital inclusion together.

Timeline for Instant Payments Regulation is known

On 19 March 2024, the European Union officially published the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR or Instant Payments Regulation). The IPR ensures the rollout of Instant Payments across the European Economic Area (EEA, including EU). This publication marks the end of the European legislative process for Instant Payments. It gives payment service providers within the EEA clarity on the implementation timeline for the various obligations implied by the IPR. Virtually all banks within the eurozone must be able to receive Instant Payments from January 2025 and send them from October 2025. In addition, they will have to offer verification-of-payee (such as the Dutch IBAN Name Check) from October 2025. We have set up several working groups to assist our members in meeting all obligations on time.

Staff from the Payments Association explain in several articles how instant payments have been rolled out in the Netherlands and what purpose the European Union has in mind with the new Instant Payments legislation.

Consultation on SEPA Verification-of-Payee Rulebook

The European Payments Council has launched a public consultation for the Verification-of-Payee Scheme Rulebook and for a document containing proposed verification guidelines under the rulebook. The rulebook will help PSPs offer verification-of-payee within SEPA.

We will respond to the consultation on behalf of our members. The deadline for submitting responses is 19 May 2024.

Association news

We were able to welcome Anadolubank and Yapi Kredi Bank to the association as new members. We are pleased with this new addition and with the involvement of members in our association activities.

See our website https://www.betaalvereniging.nl/over-ons/lid-worden/ for more information on membership.

Moneyland

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Figures

Dutch consumers will have settled about 7 billion purchases at the checkout by 2023, with a total value of over €171 billion.

More figures on our factsheet

Agenda

Member Bulletin

In addition to this Payment Journal, the Payments Association also publishes Member Bulletins. In these, we inform members about practical matters of interest. The bulletins usually appear a few times a month and relate to a specific topic. Are you a member but not yet receiving these bulletins? You can get yourself placed on the mailing list at secretariaat@betaalvereniging.nl.

Subscribe to Payment Journal

Also curious about the latest developments in payments? Stay informed via Betaaljournaal. You can register here.

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