Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
354. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he has considered options to secure cashback without a purchase; if this is possible under current European Union regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42602/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2 - Directive 2366/2015) regulates payment services in Europe. This Directive was transposed into Irish law by the Payment Services Regulations (S. I. 6 of 2018).
Under Article 3(e) of the PSD2, Cash back with a purchase is excluded from the scope of the Directive. However, no such mention is made in PSD2 regarding cash back without a purchase. As such it is not clear whether cash back without a purchase is within the scope of the Directive as it is not explicitly excluded.
A review of PSD2 in currently being undertaken by the European Commission. As part of this review the Commission issued a call for advice to the European Banking Authority (EBA), the matter of cash back without a purchase was discussed and the EBA in their response have called on the European Commission to provide clarity on this issue. The EBA proposed the European Commission clarify the treatment of these services and, in particular, whether they should fall within the scope of an already existing payment service.
Cash back is a frequently used method of cash withdrawal here, a consumer survey conducted as part of my Department's review of the retail banking sector found that, 20% of those surveyed use cash back from a retailer regularly. This placed cashback second, after ATMs at 73%, for most common methods of cash withdrawal.
