The EPC and the CSG regularly maintain and develop the SEPA Cards Standardisation. It is a key set of documents for the card industry, aimed at achieving a better and functionally richer card services environment, as well as cards standardisation, interoperability, and security in Europe.
The Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) requires that as from 9 June 2016 all cards be electronically identifiable 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.
To ensure that the market can get ready to meet this requirement as soon as possible, the Cards Stakeholders Group (CSG) has requested EMVCo to provide a dedicated data element. The European Payments Council (EPC) and the CSG release today a Bulletin, which defines the guidelines for using this new data element to facilitate compliance with the IFR in a harmonised way.
Bulletins can be used to release urgent guidelines, without waiting for the publication of a full Volume version. It is the first time that a Bulletin is published.
Given the investments and time needed by the card schemes to implement this guideline related to the electronic identification of all card types, the actual compliance with this IFR requirement would appear to demand more time than the due date foreseen in the IFR. A short term solution based on Bank Identification Number tables made available to merchants should however allow meeting the regulatory deadline.
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