On 1 July 2021, the Bank of Italy transposed into the Italian legal framework Article 106 of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (Payment Services Directive, “PSD2”) setting out the obligation for payment service providers (“PSPs”) to inform consumers of their rights in the context of the provision of payment services. For this purposes, the Bank of Italy published an amendment to the Bank of Italy Transparency Rules (“BTR”) providing for specific conduct of business rules and transparency requirements applicable in the provision of payment, banking and financing services in Italy.
The BTR, as amended, now provide that PSPs must make available in an easily accessible manner on their websites the European Commission's leaflet listing in a clear and easily comprehensible manner the rights of consumers under PSD2 (available here).
The leaflet must be made available to consumers free of charge also on paper at PSP branches, financial agents (agenti in attività finanziaria), employees and collaborators used by the financial agents for the relationships with the public as well as entities to which they have outsourced functions related to the promotion of payment services.
With respect of persons with disabilities, the leaflet must be published and made available in an accessible format, in accordance with the procedures laid down under the laws on the accessibility of products and services, including those provided by means of IT systems.
Next steps
The revised version of the BTR will be published in the Italian Official Gazette and enter into force on the following day. PSPs will be required to comply with new obligation within three months.
Authored by Jeffrey Greenbaum, Claudia Colomba, and Elisabetta Zeppieri
