Latest Payments News: FCA Fines TSB £10.9m For Customer Treatment Failings, and more

Catch up on six of the stories our payments compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

FCA Fines TSB £10.9m For Customer Treatment Failings

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined TSB Bank £10.9m for failing to treat customers in financial difficulty fairly.

Between June 2014 and March 2020, the regulator found that TSB’s inadequate processes led to customers in arrears facing unrealistic repayment plans and potentially unaffordable arrangements.

An independent review subsequently ordered by the FCA found that TSB staff were not fully trained to assess individual circumstances, and incentive schemes may have prioritised speed over accuracy.

The bank has since paid £99.9m in compensation to 232,849 affected customers, including those with mortgages, overdrafts, credit cards and loans.

"If you get into difficulty, you hope for, and we expect, fair treatment so a stressful situation isn’t made worse," said Therese Chambers, director of enforcement at the FCA.

"TSB’s woeful systems and controls exposed its customers to risk of harm and meant it missed opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing. While it did take action, it took us instigating a review before it acted effectively to address all the issues."

Swedish Financial Watchdog Ditches New Payment Regulations

The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) has announced that it will not proceed with proposed new regulations for payment service providers (PSPs).

The regulations, initially introduced in December 2023, would have required periodic reporting on payment accounts to comply with the EU's Payment Account Directive.

However, the FI has determined that the current legal framework does not support these changes, and has confirmed that its work on this is now closed.

The regulator is now considering alternative measures to meet its reporting obligations under EU law, and the FI is due to provide further updates.

India Doubles Transaction Limit For Offline UPI Service

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will double the transaction limit on UPI123, an offline facility for accessing the country’s instant payments system.

In order to stimulate additional use of the offline feature, the central bank said the transaction limit will be raised from INR5000 ($60) to INR10,000 ($120).

Launched in March 2022, UPI123 can be used on feature phones without internet connectivity.

Similarly, the RBI said it will double the transaction limit on UPI Lite from INR5000 ($60) to INR10,000 ($120).

UPI Lite allows users to make payments without entering a UPI PIN.

HSBC Fined In South Africa For Customer Due Diligence Failures

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has imposed fines of up to R9.5m ($538,552) on HSBC for compliance failures that include customer due diligence (CDD) offences.

An investigation by the SARB’s Prudential Authority found that HSBC failed to adequately conduct CDD on sampled active customer relationships.

The non-compliance included deficiencies in the identification and verification of the beneficial owners of clients, the central bank said.

In addition, HSBC was fined for failing to attend to automated transaction monitoring system (ATMS) alerts within a 48-hour period, as required by local law.

The SARB said that HSBC had cooperated with the regulator throughout the investigation, and that R4m ($226,000) of the fines will be conditionally suspended for 36 months.

DORA Highlighted As Top Priority For EU Supervisory Authorities In 2025

The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA — the ESAs) has unveiled its work programme for 2025, which focusses on enhancing digital resilience across the EU financial system.

A central priority, according to the financial watchdogs, will be the implementation and oversight of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which comes into force in January 2025.

Here, the ESAs say that they will work to finalise procedures and designate key ICT service providers, initiating core oversight activities under the new EU-wide framework.

The expected outputs for 2025 under the ESAs' work programme include achieving supervisory convergence in relation to DORA and its mandates and conducting a feasibility study on the potential centralisation of ICT incident reporting through an EU hub.

The ESAs’ will also launch the "Joint Oversight Framework", along with the start of core oversight activities.

Additionally, the ESAs will deliver a report on the EU’s systemic cyber incident coordination framework and provide further guidance through Q&As and other Level 3 tools.

Applications Now Closed For Virtual Bank Licences In Thailand

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has confirmed that its first application period for virtual bank licence has now ended, with only five firms submitting an application.

The BOT said it will consider the applicants based on their qualifications and on the likely benefits to the Thai economy and financial system outlined in their business plans.

The applicants will be evaluated by the BOT and the Ministry of Finance, and a list of successful applicants will be announced in mid-2025.

Successful applicants, who will be the first ever holders of the new licence, will then have one year to launch commercial operations.

As covered by Vixio, the BOT revealed its framework for obtaining a virtual bank licence in April 2024. The central bank also said that it plans to stagger its approval of these licences to firms over time.

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