Latest Payments News: Poland's BLIK Launches In Romania, 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.

Poland's BLIK Launches In Romania

BLIK's Romanian counterpart has obtained authorisation for the operation of the BLIK payment system from the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

Approved as of October 1, the company will facilitate e-commerce transactions in Romania up to RON50,000 (€10,000). The authorisation marks a significant milestone for BLIK Romania, which has been registered locally since 2022.

"The granting of the operating authorisation by the BNR is a key step in the development of BLIK in Romania, which is one of the most important markets in the CEE region, especially in terms of e-commerce growth," said Ryszard Drużynski, CEO of BLIK Romania.

Drużynski said the development of the digital sector and the growing popularity of cashless transactions in Romania create "the perfect conditions" for the implementation of solutions such as BLIK.

"We are open to continuing discussions with various entities in the Romanian market," he said.

Netherlands: New Study Finds That Young People Underestimate Money Muling Risks

A new study by the Dutch Banking Association (NVB) has found that seven in ten young people are unaware of the risk that money mules can be arrested and prosecuted.

The NVB surveyed 258 people between the ages of 18 to 25 to find out what they know about money muling and its risks.

The survey also found that one in ten young people have been approached to lend their debit card or bank account to criminals as a money mule.

Similarly, two in three young people have seen advertisements or received messages on social media about ways to earn money quickly and easily — a typical approach used by criminals in search of money mules.

Marco Doeland, team lead for security at the NVB, said that young people underestimate the chance of a money mule being caught, even though money mules are easily detected.

“If the victim of a fraud reports it to the bank or the police, the bank can immediately see who the money was transferred to. So you will always be caught,” he said.

“Many young people do not realise that in many cases the money comes directly from victims of online fraud and that money mules can be held liable for the damage.”

Barclays Clashes With Bank Of England On Retail CBDC

The UK’s Barclays bank has clashed with the Bank of England (BoE) in a new paper on the merits of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The four-page paper, penned by three members of Barclays’ chief technology office, considers the BoE’s claim that a retail CBDC may be required in future as an “anchor” for monetary and financial stability.

The paper concludes that the anchoring of private UK retail digital money is currently supported by existing forms of money and digital payments systems.

“These could be sufficient to maintain public trust and confidence in money and the financial system, despite a decline in the use of physical cash for payments and the emergence of new forms of private digital money,” said Barclays.

“However, further research is required before drawing definite conclusions.”

EU Authorities Appoint DORA Chief‍

The three European supervisory authorities (ESAs) for overseeing the financial services sector have appointed Marc Andries to lead joint oversight of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

The Frenchman will serve as director of a newly created joint directorate tasked with overseeing critical third-party providers.

From October 1, 2024, Andries will manage the implementation of a pan-European oversight framework aimed at ensuring the resilience of critical ICT third-party service providers (CTPPs) in the financial sector.

Andries’ CV includes previously serving as chief inspector at the Banque de France and at France's Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) as a chief inspector.

French Authorities Launch National Campaign To Combat Payment Fraud

France has kicked off a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about payment fraud as part of European Cybersecurity Month.

Organised by the Ministry of the Economy, the Banque de France, the French Banking Federation (FBF) and the Observatory for the Security of Payment Methods (OSMP), the campaign targets growing scams involving user manipulation, which accounted for €379m in fraud in 2023.

The campaign will run in the press and online, including influencer support, to alert the public to sophisticated fraud techniques such as fake bank customer service scams and AI deepfakes.

Research from the FBF highlights the growing concern among the French about banking fraud, with 57 percent having experienced a scam attempt.

The campaign places particular emphasis on encouraging younger people to be more cautious, stating that they are more frequently targeted but less cautious about data protection.

Crypto Ads Face New Restrictions In The UK

The UK’s Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) has published a new rule that explicitly bans ads for certain types of crypto-asset products from being broadcast to mainstream, non-specialist audiences.

Since October 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has regulated these products, and advertisers are now restricted to targeting only specialised financial audiences with relevant trading experience.

They are obligated to pre-vet individuals to ensure they meet the FCA's criteria before promoting these high-risk investments.

"BCAP considers that adding this category explicitly to the Code will maintain the existing restriction of such products to appropriate specialised broadcast audiences," BCAP said in a media statement.

The committee added that this move "will add more precision to the rule to acknowledge this broad and widespread category of investments that did not exist at the time of the rule’s creation, and remind broadcasters of the statutory restrictions that apply to advertising for them".

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