MRC Supports the Industry Request to Delay the Deadline for Implementation of SCA Requirements

We hope everyone is remaining safe and doing their best to navigate through these unprecedented times.

We are writing to you today to express the MRC's support in delaying the deadline for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements under PSD2. In recent discussions with many MRC Merchant members who are preparing for the SCA deadlines at the end of the year, we have concluded that meeting the existing deadlines during the COVID-19 pandemic is simply unrealistic.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is the financial regulatory body in the UK, recently announced an additional six months to the deadline to implement SCA for eCommerce. This comes on the heels of the European Payment Institutions Federation's (EPIF) letter to the European Banking Authority (EBA) on April 24^th. The MRC strongly supports EPIF's position and has now followed up by sending a formal letter of support for delaying the SCA deadline. That letter can be viewed here. In addition to this letter, the MRC has also addressed a similar letter to the European Commission in support of the delay, which can be found here.