Following a high volume of feedback, version 8.0 of the SEPA rules for payment cards has been published, improving user experience and transparency in the card payments process in Europe

The rules – version 8.0 of the SEPA Cards Standardisation Volume – is effective immediately after publication was delayed by two months so that more than 1,000 comments received during a public consultation could be processed. The European Cards Stakeholders Group (ECSG), the industry association in charge of cards standardisation in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), said that version 8.0 in particular provides guidelines to facilitate the implementation of some aspects of the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR).

The updated volume includes:

• final guidelines to ease compliance with some aspects of the IFR related to contactless payments and choice of application;
• since June 2016, the IFR has required that all cards must be electronically identifiable (including those used in contactless payments), enabling payers and payees to unequivocally identify which brands and categories of prepaid cards, debit cards, credit cards, or commercial cards are chosen by the payer. The resulting implementation can be managed in several ways, so the Volume includes a non-exhaustive set of concrete examples that show card acceptors how to achieve it. These examples provide helpful clarifications on some complex aspects of the IFR;
• details regarding the use of a unique ID for the set of transactions used for pre-authorisation in the hospitality sector;
• this ID will make it convenient for card issuers and acquirers to follow the transaction created when, for example, customers booking a hotel room are asked to pre-authorise a guaranteed amount with their card;
• a new annex providing a simplified overview of a card transaction;
• the transaction flow of each card payment may differ for commercial or technical reasons (e.g. if the card terminal includes multi-function touchscreen capabilities or only a minimum display, or if the card is used to make an online payment or to pay in a physical store). The annex explains why these differences in the payment process can in turn create different experiences for the customer. This annex aims to enhance understanding in the market of a card transaction flow. It doesn’t contain requirements.