Paris (AFP)

Validation of SMS Code Online Payments Will Soon Be Completed: New Measures to Enhance Payment Security Begin to Take Effect Saturday, with Implementation to End 2020-Beginning of 2021 Wednesday the French Observatory of the security of means of payment.

These new measures are provided for by a European directive (called "DSP 2") aimed at reinforcing the level of security of Internet payment transactions in Europe, in order to limit the risks of fraud.

To do this, issuers of credit cards and banks, payment operators, online merchants, etc. are required to deploy a device called "strong authentication" of the customer during electronic payments or sensitive banking.

The new European rules will come into effect in France on September 14, said Wednesday in a statement the observatory, attached to the Bank of France.

It confirmed the implementation until December 2020 of "strong authentication" measures for "the vast majority of customers", in accordance with the directive.

The "payment chain professionals" will have to upgrade their systems to the new regulatory requirements by March 2021.

In practice, the use of a single code received by SMS to secure a transaction will no longer be considered sufficient and will have to be progressively reinforced by means of new solutions, such as biometric recognition, combined with other control devices. But not all actors are ready.

In a note issued on 21 June, the European Banking Authority (EBA), responsible for drawing up the technical standards of this directive, decided to grant "limited additional time" to the Member States concerned to comply with these directives. technical requirements and in exchange for a migration plan with specific deadlines.

In question, the "concerns" of market players "as to the state of readiness of electronic commerce to the new requirements" of strong authentication, risking creating disruptions in online transactions.

Moreover, according to the EBA, wider public information on the content of these developments was needed to make the directive effective.

In the wake, in early July, the French Observatory on the security of means of payment had presented a migration plan with the goal of implementing strong authentication for a clear majority of customers and transactions. 'here December 2020.

© 2019 AFP