EBA publishes final draft technical standards on separation of payment card schemes and processing entities under the IFR

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) specifying the requirements with which payment card schemes and processing entities must comply to ensure the independence of their accounting, organisation, and decision-making processes. These final draft RTS aim at facilitating greater competition among processing services providers, supporting the general objective of the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) to create a Single Market for card payments across the EU.

 

The final draft RTS require payment card schemes and processing entities to (i) have accounting processes in place to produce annual information related to separated profit & loss accounts reviewed by an independent and certified auditor; (ii) have separate workspaces; and (iii) ensure the independence of senior management, management bodies and staff.

 

They lay down requirements related to the use of shared services and a shared information management system, the treatment of sensitive information, a code of conduct, and the separation of annual operating plans.
 

These final draft RTS have been developed on the basis of Article 7(6) of Regulation (EU) 2015/751 (IFR) which mandates the EBA to specify the requirements with which payment card schemes and processing entities have to comply to ensure the independence of their accounting, organisational and decision-making processes.