Projet de loi portant modification et insertion de dispositions en matière de services de paiement dans différents livres du Code de droit économique.
General information ¶
- Submitted by
- MR Swedish coalition
- Submission date
- June 4, 2018
- Official page
- Visit
- Status
- Adopted
- Requirement
- Simple
- Subjects
- EC Directive payment electronic money financial policy
Voting ¶
- Voted to adopt
- Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR PP VB
- Abstained from voting
- PVDA | PTB
Contact form ¶
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Discussion ¶
June 28, 2018 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)
Full source
President Siegfried Bracke ⚙
The reporter, Ms. Lijnen, refers to the written report.
Marco Van Hees PVDA | PTB ⚙
I will be brief. Nevertheless, I would like to highlight a point in this bill, which stipulates that a trader, when a customer makes a payment through Bancontact, will no longer be able to request contribution from his customer. Our colleague Isabelle Galant said in a committee that her group, the MR, provides unreserved support for the bill. Shortly thereafter, it still raises the question: electronic payments are too expensive for small ⁇ . In the end, he will vote for the draft as well as his group. Apparently, there is unreserved support for the bill rather than for the situation of small ⁇ . The minister said: “Sellers retain the possibility to refuse electronic payments for a very small amount.”
What I mean is that it’s not just about... (Brouhaha) Is it possible to talk?
President Siegfried Bracke ⚙
Let Mr. Van Hees speak!
Marco Van Hees PVDA | PTB ⚙
It’s not just small amounts of transactions that pose problems for small traders (for example, a newspaper merchant). What really matters is their gross margin. Thus, for a newspaper merchant, the sale of a Neosurf prepaid card of 15 euros, for example, will bring him a gross profit of 0.10% on those 15 euros, or a gross margin of 1.5 cents. The cost of the Bancontact operation, which exceeds 10 euros, is 7.32 cents. The cost of the Bancontact transaction is five times higher than the margin made by the newspaper trader.
There is really a problem for some products, the amount of which is not necessarily small, but whose margin is very small. In this case, the government has a choice. The consumer can be paid. This is finished. This is a good thing. You can pay the small dealer. This is obviously the option that is accepted. But one option that could have been considered, but which unfortunately is not, is to contribute the multinational Atos, which makes significant profits on Bancontact transactions, or even the firms that reward small traders with ridiculous margins.
Clearly, this was not the government’s view. A good thing for consumers, but a bad thing for small merchants. Multinational companies are spared.