With 364 votes in favour, 30 against and one abstention, the Parliament adopted a report drafted by John Purvis, a member of the European Parliament for Scotland for the Conservative Party. The report underlines the necessity to boost consumers confidence in e-money services as well as encourage innovation in the field.
In order to increase customer confidence, the Parliament approved provisions under the terms of which e-money issuers are urged to offer customers the monetary value of the electronic credit while the contract is still valid, upon request. E-money issuers can charge a fee in case the customer makes such a request before the contract expires with one condition: the contract terms should inform the customers on the existence of such a charge.
In order to encourage innovations, the new rules stipulate that the amount needed by e-money institutions to start a business is to reach only EUR 350,000, instead of the EUR 1 million which have been required till now. Furthermore, for reasons related to consumer protection against default by e-money institutions, the latter must offer guarantees that their own funds can cover 2 percent of the average outstanding electronic money.
The new legislation is to be implemented within 18 months, while the Commission is to draft and present a report regarding its application until November 2012.
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