SCA 101

If you are reading this blog then you’ll already know a fair bit about Strong Customer Authentication (SCA).

From 14 September 2019, the way in which bank or payment services providers verify identity or validate specific payment instructions will change. These European Union (EU) rule changes are designed to reduce the risk of a fraudster pretending to be someone else to steal your money.

If you’ve managed to avoid SCA so far then the Financial Conduct Authority have produced a useful summary: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/strong-customer-authentication

Will Direct Debits be impacted by SCA?

This week I was asked whether Direct Debits would be impacted by SCA – a good question which has been helpfully answered by the European Banking Authority (EBA) over two questions:

Q: Does SCA apply to electronically processed (SEPA) Direct Debits?

A: https://eba.europa.eu/single-rule-book-qa/-/qna/view/publicId/2018_4359

And:

Q: Are mandates for Direct Debits which are set up without the direct involvement if the payers PSP subject to SCA requirements?

A: https://eba.europa.eu/single-rule-book-qa?p_p_id=questions_and_answers_WAR_questions_and_answersportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_questions_and_answers_WAR_questions_and_answersportlet_jspPage=%2Fhtml%2Fquestions%2Fviewquestion.jsp&_questions_and_answers_WAR_questions_and_answersportlet_viewTab=1&_questions_and_answers_WAR_questions_and_answersportlet_questionId=2690926&_questions_and_answers_WAR_questions_and_answersportlet_statusSearch=1

Helpful clarification re Direct Debits and SCA but, of course, caveated that this opinion is not legal advice and any interpretation of legislation should be addressed via your legal team.