Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of two-factor payment authentication on (a) consumers and (b) businesses.

The implementation of Strong Customer Authentication, which mandates two-factor authentication for some online payments, will introduce more secure payments for individuals and businesses.

This was introduced by the second Payment Services Directive. HM Treasury published an impact assessment on the implementation of this EU directive in 2017.

In an Opinion published on 21 June, the European Banking Authority acknowledged the complexity of payments markets and the practical challenges arising from the changes that are required by Strong Customer Authentication across the EU, which may lead to some actors in the payments chain not being ready by 14 September 2019.

The FCA is therefore working closely with industry to develop a migration plan to implement Strong Customer Authentication in a timely and effective manner.