Scotti calls for open payment markets and clearer liability
Bank of Italy Deputy Governor Chiara Scotti calls for clearer liability and effective access to technology in European payments. Speaking at a banking law conference in Palermo, she links competition to user protection and legal certainty.
Liability follows the payment chain
Scotti said payment safeguards must reflect each participant's capacity to prevent harm as banks, platforms and technology providers share delivery.
Instant payments leave little time to correct fraud or errors.
Verification of Payee, mandatory since October 9, 2025, checks the beneficiary's name against the IBAN before execution.
PSD2, adopted in 2015, strengthened authentication, but fraud increasingly exploits manipulation of users.
The forthcoming third Payment Services Directive and Payment Services Regulation would clarify liability and involve online platforms and electronic communications providers in prevention.
Platforms could face liability if failing to remove reported fraudulent content results in a provider reimbursing its customer.
Access must work in practice
Formal access rights do not ensure competition, Scotti said: unreliable interfaces and unequal data access can obstruct open banking.
A European Commission investigation begun in 2020 secured Apple's commitment in 2024 to open iPhone contactless payments to rivals.
The 2022 Digital Markets Act also imposes interoperability duties.
The digital euro proposal envisages fair access to hardware and software.
AI agents add questions about mandates and liability; Amazon blocked Meta's Muse agent in September 2026, illustrating platforms' control over access.
Trust needs coherent rules
Scotti identifies legal certainty, consistency and adaptability as foundations of trust in digital payments.
Overlapping rules can obstruct innovation and investment rather than support competition.
She calls for closer coordination among financial, competition, data protection and cybersecurity authorities across borders.