On the 23rd of March, as part of the FinTech conference, the European Commission has launched its Action Plan for Retail Services. This Action Plan sets out ways to provide European consumers with greater choice and better access to financial services across the EU.
In this Action Plan, the Commission highlights the importance of technology to offer consumers and businesses more choices and better products. Commissioner Dombrovskis for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Market Union declared that “European consumers and firms should be able to take full advantage of a true Single Market for financial services. Consumers should have access to the best product available across the EU, not just within their own country. At the same time, we want to explore the full potential of the technology that’s out there”. He underlined the need to set up a digital single market in financial services “which balanced innovation and consumer protection without over-regulation”.
To build a deeper single market in retail financial services, the Action plan sets out 12 actions under 3 headings:
1. Increase consumer trust and empower consumers: for instance, when consumers buy services at home or from other Member States. The Commission will propose an amendment to extend the existing regulation on euro transactions (Regulation (EU) 2015/751 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions) to all EU currencies in order to reduce cross-border transactions involving non-Euro currencies.
2. Reduce legal and regulatory obstacles affecting businesses: for the firms which are seeking to expand abroad (common creditworthiness assessment and facilitation of exchange of data between credit register).
3. Support the development of an innovative digital world: The Commission wishes to work with the private sector to explore how they could use electronic identification and trust services for checking the identity of consumers. For instance, the Commission will promote the use of e-ID in the Member States.
As part of this Action plan, the Commission has launched a Public Consultation on Fintech (A More Innovative and Competitive European Financial Sector). With this consultation, the Commission seeks “input in terms of stakeholders’ perspectives on new technologies' impact on the European financial services sector, both from the perspective of providers of financial services and consumers”. This consultation will help the Commission to see how technologies can make the single market for financial services more competitive, inclusive and efficient.
The deadline to take part in this consultation is the 15th of June 2017.
Read the Press release from the European Commission here
Access to the Public Consultation on FinTech here