Following the successful conclusion of the MyBank Mandate Pilot*, the launch of MyBank Mandates was announced today for 27th October 2014. Financial institutions and service providers in several European countries have started preparations to roll out this pan-European electronic mandate functionality for SEPA Direct Debits to their customers from that date on. MyBank Mandates provide direct debit users with a simple way to agree online and in real time that their account can be debited. Merchants and public authorities across Europe will be able to replace paper mandates with this efficient new solution. Paper mandates are expensive and lead to higher rejection rates for the first collection. Moving to a real-time electronic process that involves the bank of the debtor reduces costs and the time required to collect funds.

“SEPA has provided pan-European direct debits, now e-commerce merchants and utility companies need real-time, pan-European electronic solutions such as MyBank Mandates to reap the benefits of direct debits online,” said Paul Alfing, Chairman of the e-Payments Committee of Ecommerce Europe,  which represents over 5,000 companies that sell products and/or services online to consumers in Europe.

“MyBank Mandates is the next building block in creating a suite of services to support payments and identity services in the digital space. There is a clear demand from consumers and merchants for a simple and secure way of setting up direct debits,” said John Broxis, General Manager of PRETA, the fully owned subsidiary of EBA CLEARING that owns and manages the MyBank solution.

Also supported

From the same date, MyBank Mandates will also support mandates by consumers waiving their automatic “no-questions-asked” refund right. MyBank Mandates do not interfere with the statutory refund rights provided under consumer law. This will help bridge the gap between today’s situation, where no-refund direct debits still exist as niche products in several countries, and the introduction of a pan-European scheme foreseen in the coming years.

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* The MyBank Mandate Pilot included participation from banks, service providers and merchants, which provided positive feedback on the technical, security and business aspects of MyBank.