Payment cards: cutting fees will benefit banks as well as consumers, says lead MEP Pablo Zalba Bidegain

http://www.vieuws.eu/financial-competition/payment-cards-cutting-fees-will-benefit-banks-as-well-as-consumers-says-lead-mep-pablo-zalba/

player.vimeo.com/video/89487150?autoplay=1 

 
In an exclusive interview with viEUws, MEP Pablo Zalba Bidegain, rapporteur of a bill to cap interchange fees on payment cards, speaks about his plans for the legislation with MLex correspondent John Rega. 

In the interview, Zalba says that the measure will introduce transparency, to the benefit of banks as well as consumers and shop owners. He also argues, that capping fees will encourage the use of cards over cash. To broaden consumer protections, the rules should cover a wider sample of cards than originally proposed. Fee levels vary greatly around the European Union and need to be harmonized in the Single Market, he says. Zalba further argues that a European Commission study shows that the levels proposed are the right ones, in line with MasterCard’s and Visa Europe’s agreements with authorities. If treated as a priority, the measure could still be worked out with the Council of Ministers to send a signal to voters before European elections, Zalba concludes.

Pablo Zalba in Factcheckeu

https://factcheckeu.org/factchecks/show/213/pablo-zalba-bidegain?utm_content=buffer92447&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Pablo Zalba Bidegain, a Spanish MEP from the centre-right EPP group, preaches trade and investment as key tools Europe should deploy in its struggle to emerge from the current financial crisis. In the above statement, he seems to be quoting an official fact sheet published by the Commission. 

Right from the start, it is worth pointing out two areas of inconsistency which make the analysis of this statement a bit of a jigsaw; namely: divergences between European, Chinese and independent sources as well as distinction usually made between mainland China and Hong Kong as sources of outward direct investment (ODI). Mr. Zalba does not specify what was on his mind when quoting his figures and neither does the fact sheet.

As ever, the accurate measurement of China's ODI is complicated for a number of reasons. As pointed out in a survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, UNCTAD provides an annual overview of international FDI flows, the Chinese Government (National Bureau of Statistics) provides China-specific investment data and the EU provides Europe-specific data (Eurostat). Their results vary, sometimes considerably, due to different methodologies of measurement.

Secondly, it is known that much mainland Chinese ODI is routed via Hong Kong (for structural reasons), which is why (where possible) we will take two scenarios into account when looking at the numbers.

For starters, the provisional Eurostat data for 2012 indicates that indeed the FDI flows from China to the EU accounted for 2.2%. This figure however excludes Hong Kong, which as mentioned above, is a frequent intermediary for Chinese FDI. Together the Chinese and Hong Kong's FDI in the EU amounts to 6.7%. In both cases, Mr. Zalba is therefore correct that it exceeds 2%, but could potentially make a better case for his argument if he explored the data a bit more in depth.

When it comes to the other part of his claim, we only managed to trace data back to 2011. As fleshed out by the report by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China,  the Chinese Government data confirms that the EU accounted for around 20% of investment into China. In 2011, it amounted to €17.5 billion and Chinese ODI flow to the EU totaled €3.2 billion (or 1.4%, roughly corresponding to 1.3% as reported by the Eurostat).

All in all, direct Chinese investment in the EU continues to grow at a dramatic pace. A paper in China Economic Journal published in February specifies it went up from about $150 million per year from 2004 to 2006 to roughly $7.6 billion in 2011. Already by the end of 2010, Chinese firms had investments in all of the 27 member states of the European Union and are expected to invest more due to many business incentives. Especially so in wake of talks on the bilateral investment treaty between China and the EU, as reported by the Financial Times.

Il parlamento europeo vota contro la Troika

http://www.lettera43.it/politica/il-parlamento-europeo-vota-contro-la-troika_43675124593.htm

Strasburgo vota contro le modalità dei salvataggi. Troppo dure per i cittadini. E propone un Fondo monetario della Ue.

Mai più un’altra Troika. Non ha un valore legislativo, ma ne ha sì uno politico, la decisione degli europarlamentari che il 13 marzo hanno approvato due relazioni sul programma di salvataggio della Troika presentate dalla commissione Affari economici (Econ, approvata con 448 voti favore a 140, e 27 astensioni) e da quella per l'Occupazione (Empl,adottata con 408 voti favorevoli, 135 voti contrari e 63 astensioni).

Pablo Zalba Bidegain: Stropy pre poplatky pri platbe kartou povedú k väčšej transparentnosti - See more at: http://www.euractiv.sk/platobne-sluzby/interview/pablo-zalba-bidegain--stropy-pre-poplatky-pri-platbe-kartou-povedu-k-vacsej-transparentnosti-022129#sthash.nE9pWqcL.dpuf

http://www.euractiv.sk/platobne-sluzby/interview/pablo-zalba-bidegain--stropy-pre-poplatky-pri-platbe-kartou-povedu-k-vacsej-transparentnosti-022129

Pripravované zavedenie stropov pre mnohostranné výmenné poplatky povedie k väčšej transparentnosti pri platbách kreditnou alebo debetnou kartou, uviedol v rozhovore pre EurActiv europoslanec a spravodajca k nariadeniu o výmenných poplatkoch pri platbe kartou Pablo Zalba Bidegain (EĽS, Španielsko).

Váš návrh správy k nariadeniu o výmenných poplatkoch bol pôvodne tvrdší  oproti návrhu Európskej komisie. Ako vnímate výsledok nedávneho hlasovania vo Výbore Európskeho parlamentu pre hospodárske a menové záležitosti?

Myslím si, že ide o dobrý výsledok. Touto správou sme vyslali jasný odkaz občanom, že toto nariadenie povedie k zvýšeniu transparentnosti  pri platbách kreditnou alebo debetnou kartou.  Pevne verím, že vďaka tomu budú spotrebitelia pri platbe kreditnými alebo debetnými kartami platiť menej.

Pozadie

Poslanec EP Pablo Zalba Bidegain (EĽS, Španielsko) je spravodajcom k nariadeniu o mnohostranných výmenných poplatkoch (tzv. MIFs), ktoré sprevádza revidovanú smernicu o platobných službách.

Ide o dôležitý výsledok, ktorý prichádza v ten správny moment, keď sa občania cítia byť prehliadaní európskymi inštitúciami v čase pred európskymi voľbami.  Domnievam sa, že je tou správnou odpoveďou na ich obavy. Európa  funguje a pracuje v prospech spotrebiteľov a v prospech občanov.

Kritici (najmä z radov bánk a kartových spoločností) tvrdia, že prísne stanovenie stopu pre mnohostranné výmenné poplatky nie je podložené žiadnymi jasnými dátami či metodológiou. Čo si myslíte o tomto argumente?

Pravdou je, že v priebehu diskusie, ktorá predchádzala hlasovaniu, mnoho členov Výboru, vrátane mňa samotného,  žiadalo od Komisie ďalšiu správu a detailnú analýzu o skutočnom vplyve zavedenia stropov pre mnohostranné poplatky na platobný proces. Komisia prišla s novou správou, ktorá podľa môjho názoru priniesla vcelku dobré vysvetlenie a poskytuje dostatok údajov, ktoré reagujú na takéto obavy.

Sú nejaké ponaučenia z prípadu Španielska, kde stropy už implementovali a objavili sa tvrdenia, že zavedenie limitov prinieslo zvýšenie nákladov pre držiteľov kariet. Zohľadnili sa aj tieto skúsenosti? 

Myslím, že nie sú k dispozícii žiadne analýzy, ktoré by dokazovali priamu súvislosť medzi zavedením  stropov a  zvýšením nákladov za používanie kreditných kariet. Tým chcem povedať, že ak by to tak aj bolo – pričom podľa môjho názoru tomu tak nie je - prinajmenšom sme dosiahli jednu z priorít, ktorú sme v návrhu tejto správy sledovali a tou je zvýšenie transparentnosti. Spotrebitelia vedia, že za každú transakciu zaplatia 0,2 alebo 0,3 % z hodnoty transakcie v závislosti od toho či platia kreditnou alebo debetnou kartou. Takže aj v prípade, že by sa naplnil najhorší možný scenár, aspoň tým zvýšime transparentnosť.

Spotrebitelia sa tiež obávajú nového nariadenia kvôli obmedzeniu „pravidla rešpektovania všetkých kariet“. Čo od tohto kroku očakávate?   

Obchodníci musia platiť obrovské sumy peňazí za akceptáciu platby kreditnou kartou. Týka sa to hlavne kariet, ktoré sú mimo rozsahu. Návrh hovorí o tom, že obchodník má možnosť odmietnuť platbu kartami, ktoré sú pre neho príliš nákladné. Myslím, si, že to môže vytvárať neistotu. Avšak v konečnom dôsledku to môže byť pre obchodníkov aj stimul, aby akceptovali ostatné karty, pretože budú presne vedieť koľko za to zaplatia. Môžu sa prispôsobiť týmto nákladom a dokonca byť konkurencieschopnejší a ponúknuť nižšie ceny pre spotrebiteľov.

Aký je časový rámec návrhu? Špekuluje sa o tom, že sa ním bude zaoberať až nový Parlament, ktorý vzíde z májových volieb?

Podľa všetkého grécke Predsedníctvo nevníma túto revidovanú smernicu o platobných službách, sprevádzanú  nariadením o mnohostranných výmenných poplatkoch, ako prioritu. Z môjho pohľadu máme dostatok času na to, aby bola regulácia pripravená ešte pred koncom funkčného obdobia tohto Parlamentu. Avšak, samozrejme, to nezávisí len od Parlamentu, ale aj od Rady. A je práve na Rade, aby rozhodla, či bude schválená ešte v tomto funkčnom období, alebo až v tom nasledujúcom. Ja by som to rád dokončil ešte v rámci súčasného mandátu. Bol by to bol jasný signál pre občanov  v kontexte volieb. Potrebujeme im prezentovať výsledky a dobré závery, aby sme im ukázali, že Európa  funguje a pracuje správnym smerom.

Cheaper fees for Europeans when paying by credit card

http://pr.euractiv.com/pr/cheaper-fees-europeans-when-paying-credit-card-104287

EPP Group Members of the European Parliament, Diogo Feio and Pablo Zalba Bigedain will be responsible for the Parliament’s input on the new Payment Package approved today by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.

The new legislation was announced by the European Commission in July, updating the original content in order to standardise the rules for online transactions and payment cards. Every Member State has diverse and unclear laws regulating online and card payments. This causes a fragmentation of the payments market with an estimated a cost of €130 billion a year (more than 1% of EU GDP).

It also updates the Regulation on ‘interchange fees’, which are paid by banks to each other for each card payment. Regulating these overpriced taxes will benefit retailers and consumers.

"Since I started working on the Multilateral Interchange Fees Regulation, my aim has been to strengthen the Single Market by establishing a level playing field for card payments and for companies at European Level", underlined Spanish MEP Pablo Zalba Bigedain.

Portuguese MEP Diogo Feio added: "Today, we have approved a text with a significant majority that will increase consumer protection and bring more safety and more transparency to the market of online payments.”

"I believe that through the Payment Package we will ensure greater transparency in the payments market, ensuring that both retailers and consumers know how much they are paying when they acquire a product with a debit or credit card", said Zalba Bigedain.

"Very important is the achievement of the obligation to create a Consumers Rights leaflet to be available to all European consumers making sure that EU legislation is comprehensible and available to all EU consumers", concluded Diogo Feio MEP.

Pablo Zalba Bidegain: Card payment ceilings will lead to greater transparency

http://www.euractiv.com/euro-finance/pablo-zalba-bidegain-card-paymen-interview-533964

 

The introduction of ceilings for Multilateral Interchange Fees (MIFs) will lead to lower costs for credit and debit card use by both consumers and retailers, according to Pablo Zalba Bidegain. EurActiv Slovakia spoke with the MEP about the proposed legislation.

Your draft report initially took a harder line on the European Commission proposal. How do you perceive the outcome of the ECON Committee vote?

I think it is a good result. With this report, we sent a clear message to citizens that this regulation is going to increase the transparency of credit and debit card payment. Thanks to this, I firmly believe that consumers will pay less when using their credit and debit cards. It is an important outcome, coming at time when people feel overlooked by European institutions, when we are close to the election. The outcome of this report is precisely the answer to these concerns.

Critics, especially among banks and card companies, say that a strict ceiling on MIFs is not based on any clear data or methodology. What's your reaction?

During the debate we had before the vote, many members of the Committee, including myself, demanded further reporting and detailed analysis of the impact that these caps are going to have in the payment process. Last week [the week of vote], the Commission published a new report which, in my opinion, explained how to answer these concerns.

Are there any lessons learned from the Spanish case, where MIFs have already been capped, with some claiming it translated into higher costs for consumers?

There are no proper analyses that prove a direct link between the caps and increase of credit card costs. Having said this, I think that if that was the case, we achieved one of the priorities that we follow in this report, which was to increase transparency. Consumers know that they pay 0.3 or 0.2% for every transaction, depending on whether they are paying with a credit or debit card. In the worst case scenario, at least we increased transparency.

Retailers also fear new regulation, because of the “Honour all cards rule.” What is the projected benefit of this move?

Retailers have to pay a huge amount of money for accepting payment by credit cards. Under this proposal, retailers have a chance to reject cards that incur excessive costs. This may create uncertainty. But, in the end, it can give retailers more incentives to accept the rest of the cards, because they will know how much they are going to pay. They can adapt to these costs, probably be more competitive, and offer lower prices to consumers.

What is the timeframe of this proposal? There are rumours that it could be passed to the new Parliament after the May elections.

It appears that the Greek presidency does not prioritise this regulation. In my opinion we have enough time to get it ready before the end of this term. But, as usual, it is not only up to the Parliament to decide, but also up to the Council, whether it is going to be passed during this term, or the next. I would like to finish it during this term, because it is a clear signal to citizens in an elections context that we need to prove that Europe works, and Europe works in a proper direction.

#EuropeIn @EPPGroup EU bloggers' event

http://storify.com/EPPGroup/europein-eppgroup-eu-bloggers-event

On 25-27 February we held the first ever EU bloggers event in the European Parliament organised by a political group. Our aim: to encourage discussion between Members of the European Parliament and EU bloggers, and to learn more from the voices of Europe.

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   24 #EU bloggers can now say "I speed-dated a Member of the European Parliament" following our first ever #bloggers #event to try to bring our work closer to our online audience and learn more from the voices of #Europe. The first of many more to come. #EuropeIN #EP #EPP #socialmedia #europeanparliament #blog #blogging #instablog