Article
BaFin comparison website for payment accounts
Ordinance entered into force, first reporting obligations from 1 to 30 September 2024
1. Background
The new Ordinance on Reporting on Payment Accounts for the Comparison Website under the Payment Accounts Act (Vergleichswebsitemeldeverordnung – “VglWebMV”) came into force on 2 March 2024. The ordinance was issued by the BaFin at the end of February 2024 and is based on section 19 (5) in conjunction with (1) and (3) of the German Payment Accounts Act (Zahlungskontengesetz – “ZKG”) in conjunction with Section 1f of the Ordinance on the Transfer of Powers to Issue Ordinances to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. The previous Comparison Websites Ordinance was repealed by the Federal Ministry of Finance at the end of January 2024.
2. Subject matter of the VglWebMV
Pursuant to Sections 16 et seqq. ZKG, new regulations on the planned free comparison website for payment accounts for consumers, which BaFin will set up and operate, have been in force since 15 December 2023. The aim is to create more transparency so that consumers in Germany can better compare different offers for payment accounts.
The VglWebMV supplements and specifies sections 16 et seqq. ZKG. In particular, it stipulates rules for reporting data for the comparison website in accordance with the ZKG and for specifying and supplementing the comparison criteria.
According to the VglWebMV, each payment service provider must report various data on itself, on the payment account in question and on the comparison criteria set out in the Ordinance for each payment account offered to consumers.
It is also worth mentioning that the term “payment service provider” ultimately covers all providers of payment accounts (e.g. current accounts) on the German market via section 2 (3) ZKG and the reference to the Payment Services Directive (Directive 2007/64/EC) contained therein. Payment service providers based abroad who offer payment accounts in Germany for consumers will also need to report the data to BaFin.
3. Notifications to be made – deadline and technical implementation
The deadline for the first implementation of the reporting obligation contained in Section 3 Vgl-WebMV will be of particular interest to payment service providers. Accordingly, the first notification pursuant to section 17 (2) sentence 1 ZKG in conjunction with section 2 VglWebMV must be made in the period from 1 September 2024 to 30 September 2024. The required data must be submitted by the payment service providers via BaFin’s existing MVP portal. From a technical point of view, data entry will be possible via a manual XML upload or via an automated web service procedure. Incorrect, incomplete or untimely reporting is an administrative offense and can be punished with a fine of up to EUR 50,000 (section 53 (1) No. 6 ZKG).
The BaFin plans to activate a test procedure on 2 April 2024.
4. Summary / Recommendation for action
According to the VglWebMV, all providers of payment accounts for consumers residing in Germany are obliged to make an initial notification in the period from 1 to 30 September 2024. We recommend that all payment service providers use the test procedure planned from 2 April 2024 to familiarize themselves with the technical conditions.
