New internet payment platform to be created by Lithuania’s central bank

The new standards will also allow online merchants to process transactions at a lower cost than presently with the Bank of Lithuania hoping that these cost savings will be passed on to Lithuanian consumers in the form of lower prices. The new type of intermediary service would also allow consumers to make purchases online quicker and more easily as they will not have to use their online bank login to complete a purchase.

“With the new service, any internet store will be able to make a single contract with a payment service provider rather than make multiple agreements with different banks. The emergence of such providers will increase competition among banks, which will reduce tariffs for internet stores and likely for their clients as well,” Marius Jurgilas, a board member of the Bank of Lithuania said.

To promote high performance and safety standards, the Bank of Lithuania will prepare good practice guidelines for service providers to voluntarily follow. The list of the companies that follow the guidelines will be made public.

“It is important that, before EU legislation is transposed into national law, the market participants themselves to set targets for high service standards and the future regulatory framework can serve as a starting point. Good practice principles are a step in the right direction and we invite all market participants to comply with them. If necessary, market participants can establish higher performance standards, ” said Jurgilas.

The Bank of Lithuania also warns online shoppers to remain vigilant and not to disclose bank login codes to intermediaries before you have made sure that it is safe. The test is giving away tokens in addition to the payment service user’s initiative or when it is not related to shopping in cyberspace, is an indication of fraud, of which should be reported to the police.

The principles for the service is set by the EU Directive on service payments in an internal market. Directive requirements will come into force from January 13, 2018.

Lrytas.lt