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Swedbank Under PSD2 Investigation
Finansinspektionen, Sweden's financial supervisory authority, has launched an investigation into Swedbank's compliance with the EU's revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), it has announced.
"The purpose of the investigation is to investigate whether the bank has taken sufficient measures to ensure that its specific interfaces with third-party providers meet the requirements of strict customer authentication and common and secure open communication standards," the regulator has said.
Strong customer authentication (SCA) was introduced as the last component of PSD2 on December 31, 2020.
So far, it has sent ripples through the EU's payments industry who have claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic meant they were not able to as easily prepare for the new security rules on online transactions.
Latvia's Payments Industry, Regulator Rally For Cash
Latvia's central bank, Latvijas Banka, as well as Finance Latvia Association and the Latvian banks with the widest network of ATMs and branches — Swedbank, SEB, Luminor and Citadele — have signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) on ensuring access to cash for residents of Latvia.
The MoC's intention is to ensure access to cash for residents across the entire territory of Latvia, setting the minimum requirements for reachability and accessibility of cash.
This includes a commitment to preserve the existing network of ATMs and refrain from reducing the number of ATMs by more than 5 percent until January 1, 2023.
In addition, the straight line distance between 99 percent of Latvian citizens and their closest ATM should not exceed 20 kilometres, while also being operational for at least 12 hours per day.
Prior to signing, the MoC was submitted to the Competition Council of the Republic of Latvia, receiving a confirmation that by agreeing on the principles and measures to ensure access to cash, the participating institutions are acting in the public interest without limiting competition.
"This provides people with a choice of a preferred means of payment, without prejudice to the interest of the part of the population unwilling to use non-cash for one or another reason," said Zita Zariņa, member of the council of Latvijas Banka, in a press statement.
Currently, there are 902 ATMs in Latvia, with the closest ATM at a distance of below five kilometres for more than 80 percent of Latvia's population.
