Opinion of the European Central Bank of 16 March 2016 on mandatory requirements for credit transfers and direct debits (CON/2016/13)
Date: 2016-03-16
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Romania, money, payment system

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 16 March 2016 

on mandatory requirements for credit transfers and direct debits 

(CON/2016/13) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  3  February  2016  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Banca  Naţională  a 

României  (BNR)  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  regulation  on  credit  transfer  and  direct  debit  transactions 

(hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’). 

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 

Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  the  second  and  fifth  indents  of  Article 2(1)  of  Council  Decision 
98/415/EC1,  as  the  draft  regulation  relates  to  means  of  payment  and  payment  systems.  In  accordance 

with  the  first  sentence  of  Article 17.5  of  the  Rules  of  Procedure  of  the  European  Central  Bank,  the 

Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 

1.  

Purpose of the draft regulation 

1.1  The purpose of the draft regulation is to recast and update the national legal framework governing 

payment  orders  used  in  credit  transfer  operations  and  direct  debits  executed  through  the 
automated  clearing  house2,  by  establishing  minimum mandatory  requirements  for  credit  transfers 

and direct debits processed in Romania.  

1.2  The draft regulation covers certain technical requirements which are also addressed in Regulation 
(EU)  No  260/2012  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council 3  (hereinafter,  the  ‘SEPA 

Regulation’), which has been implemented into Romanian law by Law No 231/2015 on setting out 
measures  to  implement  the  SEPA  Regulation4.  In  addition,  the  draft  regulation  relates  to  certain 
provisions of Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council 5 (hereinafter, the 

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Council  Decision  98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 

See BNR’s Regulations No 2/2005 and 3/2005, which will be repealed once the draft regulation enters into force.  
Regulation  (EU)  No  260/2012  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14  March  2012  establishing 
technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 
924/2009 (OJ L 94, 30.3.2012, p. 22).   

Law no. 231/2015 on setting out measures to implement Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct 
debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No 758 
of  10  October  2015.  The  law  designates  BNR  as  the  competent  authority  for  ensuring  compliance  with  the  SEPA 
Regulation in which respect BNR is entitled to issue regulations.  
Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in 
the internal market amending Directives 97/7/EC, 2002/65/EC, 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 
97/5/EC (OJ L 319, 5.12.2007, p. 1). 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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‘Payment  Services  Directive’),  which  has  been  transposed  into  Romanian  law  by  Government 
Emergency Ordinance No 113/2009 on payment services6.   

1.3  Under  the  draft  regulation,  a  credit  transfer  instruction  shall  include  the  following  mandatory  data 

elements: (a) the identification as a credit transfer instruction; (b) the payer’s name and the unique 

identifier  of  its  payment  account;  (c)  the  payee’s  name  and  the  unique  identifier  of  its  payment 

account;  (d)  the  amount  and  currency  of  the  credit  transfer;  (e)  the  elements  allowing  the 

verification  of  the  authenticity  of  the  credit  transfer  instruction,  as  determined  by  the  payer’s 
institution according to a pre-agreed security procedure7.  

In addition to the requirements outlined above, the payer and the payer’s institution may agree that 

the  payer  shall  additionally  provide,  for  example,  the  following  elements:  (a)  the  amount  of  the 

credit transfer spelled in letters; (b) the execution date for the credit transfer; and (c) details on the 
economic content of the transaction that determined the initiation of the credit transfer instruction8. 

For State Treasury-related payments certain specific additional elements, such as fiscal identifiers, 
are to be required for credit transfers9.  

1.4  The mandatory data elements for a direct debit instruction are as follows: (a) the identification as a 

direct  debit  instruction;  (b)  the  amount  of  the  direct  debit;  (c)  the  name  and/or  BIC  code  of  the 

payer’s institution; (d) the  name and/or  BIC code of the payee’s institution; (e)  the holder’s  name 

and  the  unique  identifier  of  the  payment  account  to  be  debited;  (f)  the  holder’s  name  and  the 

unique identifier of the payment account to be credited; (g) the elements allowing the authentication 
of the payee  by the payee’s institution10. In addition, mandatory  data  elements are prescribed for 
direct debit mandates and commitments11.    

1.5  Following  the  liability  regime  laid  down  in  the  Payment  Services  Directive,  the  draft  regulation 

prescribes no liability for the payee’s institution where the credit transfer transaction was carried out 
in  accordance  with  the  payee’s  unique  identifiers 12.  According  to  the  draft  regulation  the  payee’s 

institution  shall  only  take  into  consideration  as  unique  identifiers  the  payee’s  unique  identification 
code  and/or the  BIC code 13. Further rules are laid down in the  draft regulation  with regard to the 

State  Treasury’s  liability  in  relation  to  credit  transfer  instructions  received  by  it  as  the  payee’s 
institution14.   

2. 

General observations 

The draft regulation aims to standardise current practices with regard to credit transfers and direct 

debit operations in Romania, while at the same time simplifying the requirements laid down in the 

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Published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No 685 of 12 October 2009. 

See Article 3(1) of the draft regulation. 
See Article 3(2) of the draft regulation. 

See Article 3(3) of the draft regulation. 
See Article 5(2) of the draft regulation. 

See Article 5(1) and (3) of the draft regulation, respectively. A direct debit commitment is defined in Article 2(1) of the 
draft  regulation  as  an  agreement  between  the  payee  and  the  payee’s  institution  which  relates,  inter  alia,  to  the 
consent given by the payee’s institution regarding the use of direct debit instructions by the payee.  
See Article 4(2) of the draft regulation and Article 74 of Directive 2007/64/EC. 
See Article 4(1) of the draft regulation. 

See Article 4(5) to (8) of the draft regulation. 

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currently  applicable  national  legal  framework.  Harmonised  rules  and  common  standards  are 

welcome as a means of generating benefits and increasing efficiency for the electronic payments 

market.  Although  Union  law  only  regulates  the  technical  and  business  requirements  for  euro-

denominated  credit  transfers  and  direct  debits,  the  ECB  welcomes  the  alignment  of  national 

standards  for  payment  transactions  denominated  in  Romanian  lei  with  established  Union 

standards.  To  further  support  integration  and  harmonisation,  an  even  higher  degree  of  alignment 

with  relevant  EU  legislation  could  be  considered,  for  example  by  relying  on  existing  definitions 

contained in Union law.   

3. 

Specific observations 

3.1  With  a  view  to  enhancing  legal  certainty,  it  would  be  desirable  to  specify  the  scope  of  the  draft 

regulation in terms of whether it applies to: (a) payment transactions carried out between and within 

payment  service  providers;  (b)  transactions  processed  and  settled  through  large-value  payment 

systems; and (c) other means of payment.  

3.2  The subject matter of the draft regulation  would  also benefit from further clarification  to the effect 

that  it  covers  only  transactions  denominated  in  Romanian  lei,  since  the  SEPA  Regulation  is  to 

apply,  as  of  31  October  2016,  to  euro-denominated  credit  transfers  and  direct  debit  transactions 

also in Member States whose currency is not the euro. 

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 16 March 2016. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

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