According to their mandate extension (MSG MSCT 128-21), the ad-hoc multi-stakeholder group on mobile initiated (instant) credit transfers (MSG MSCT) prepared a new final draft document on the Interoperability of MSCTs based on NFC or BLE (EPC287-22v0.18). The proposed document for public consultation focuses on the usage of Near Field Communication (NFC) or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for the exchange of the necessary information between the payer and the payee to enable the initiation of an MSCT.
The development of the document involved a dedicated work-stream (WS) that was established in January 2022, following an open call for nominations on the European Payments Council’s (EPC) website, and the Work Stream Risk and Security for the security related aspects.
The new document includes a chapter devoted to a number of MSCT use cases that use either uni-directional or bi-directional NFC between the payer and the payee devices. It also contains a chapter on MSCTs based on BLE which relies on the current work on the European ID wallet and eIDAS2.0. The document continues with an analysis on the usage of these technologies for payments, their security issues and the challenges to be addressed for market use. The document further includes a dedicated chapter on the security of the data exchanged between the payer and the payee using these proximity technologies. In view of the current lack of maturity of the usage of BLE for payments, the chapter on minimal data elements to be exchanged between the payer and the payee for the initiation of MSCTs only addresses NFC. Last but not least, the document identifies a number of opportunities towards standardisation, subject to sufficient market interest to pursue the NFC technology for account-based mobile payments.
Note that this new document also addresses the invitation to the EPC to broaden the scope for the work on MSCTs beyond QR -codes to other technologies starting with NFC and continuing with BLE, included in the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) Statement published in November 2021 (ERPB/2021/028).
In order to help developing a successful MSCT ecosystem that provides value for all, it is very important to gather industry opinion and market feedback regarding this document. Therefore a ten-week public consultation is launched before a final version of the document is prepared for publication on the EPC website. The multi-stakeholder group values your opinion and welcomes any feedback and comments that you may have regarding the document, using the dedicated questionnaire (MSG MSCT 102-22v1.0)
Feedback should be sent to [email protected] by 21 March 2023.