Stories are considered banks provision presented to parliament in its bill Ministry of Development for their liability regarding fraud (phishing) in electronic transactions.

The regulation exempts banks from the obligation to pay compensation to victims. electronic fraud for losses exceeding EUR 1,000, if the provider, i.e. the bank, proves that it “has and applies additional and more complex transaction control mechanisms than those that it uses to reliably identify transactions.” This provision also applies in cases where the owner of the card or account has been grossly negligent, for example, security codes (card confirmation number-cvn or password) or one-time passwords (OTP – one-time password) sent by the bank to confirm the transaction.

Banks say they are ready to increase the level of security of transactions on Internet with or without a card, in order to avoid compensating your customers for losses of more than 1,000 euros in cases of electronic fraud (phishing). However, as they explain, the fact that the regulation does not specifically define the form of these security levels will oblige banks to set a limit of 1,000 euros on banking transactions in order to prevent massive embezzlement by astute people who will seek to use the “grey zone” created in the field of electronic transactions. Otherwise, as competent sources in banks point out, conditions are created for mass legal appeals and claims from consumers who have become victims of electronic fraud. Equally dangerous is the fact that these claims are likely to be made with the certainty that the bank is responsible for the compensation, a certainty that could dampen the heightened cautionary reflexes Internet users must have.

Cases of e-fraud are plentiful, especially since the onset of the pandemic, which has increased online and mobile banking transactions, “introducing” new users into the chain of electronic transactions, many of which, for example. the elders were not familiar with the use of electronic media.

Confusion over security levels exempting banks from compensating for losses in excess of €1,000.

According to the Central Bank, online fraud has moved from stealing credit or debit cards and is mainly focused on credit transfers, that is, transferring money from account to account. Characteristically, in 2021, the number of credit transfer fraud cases increased by 609%, and their cost increased by 320%. In particular, there were 8,365 cases of fraud for a total of €26.3 million compared to 1,179 cases for a total of €6.2 million in 2020. According to the Central Bank, most of the fraud methods relate to the methods of issuing a payment order by a fraudster (a fraudster issues a fake order after fraudulently obtaining confidential payment data of the payer or payee), as well as manipulation of the payer by the fraudster (the payer in good faith gives his consent to the execution of a payment order to the payment account of a third party). person, believing that it belongs to the rightful beneficiary).

On the part of the Ministry of Development, the possibility of legal technical interventions or corrections remains open until the adoption of the bill, however, without specifying whether these interventions will relate to the provision of a transitional period until all banks – for example, and non-systemic ones – are fully and more complex transaction control mechanisms”, which defines, without naming, the provision submitted to Parliament.

What is being considered?

As “K” wrote, these mechanisms can be, for example. the use of an additional OTP, the use of a QR code that will come to the mobile phone when someone tries to make a transaction through the Internet or mobile banking, IBAN verification (IBAN verification) or confirmation of the payee. Beneficiary Verification is provided for in the proposed EU regulation. to equalize the fees of simple money transfers with instant payments and is the most modern way to ensure that money sent through a bank account actually reaches the recipient’s IBAN, and is not sent to an unknown bank account of a person acting as a “steamboat” of a local or international spiral, who gets his hands on the bank accounts of unsuspecting consumers.