THEAntitrust has launched an investigation into the Silk, the additional service on bank direct debits that all institutions belonging to the Abi have been offering since 2013 for the payment of bills, taxes and tariffs. The related interbank agreement, states the Authority's weekly Bulletin, “could constitute an agreement restricting competition”, with the possible “increase in overall prices charged to companies compared to the old model Rid”. Furthermore, the increase “could be passed downstream at the expense of consumers".
According to the Antitrust Authority, based on the information provided by the main users of the Seda service, i.e. the large companies that bill the services, "it appears that, at a first estimate, the transition from Rid to Seda resulted in a significant increase in the overall commissions paid. In particular, some companies and business associations have highlighted variable increases for a minimum of 30% up to 80%".
The new system envisages that the price for the service is broken down into two: one to be paid to the bank which issues the bills and the other to be paid to that of the company which invoices. But the ABI has established that only those who collect the credit are to pay. Not only that: the Italian Banking Association has imposed that the commission to be paid is not negotiated between the company and the customer's bank, but must be "equal to the maximum commission defined unilaterally" by the bank itself and updated every two months. And payable even in the absence of transactions.
In the Antitrust bulletin that announced the start of the investigation, Abi highlights "the definition of a pricing system for the payment of Seda commissions which, by generating the lock-in of the service beneficiary who pays the corresponding commission, inhibits normal competitive pressures, not allowing those who have to pay the commission for the service to choose [the counterparty] to pay it to on the basis of the (lower) level of the commissions applied”, concludes the Authority.
For its part, the ABI, "which already before the launch of Seda (October 2013) had started discussions with the Bank of Italy and the Antitrust to explain the new features of the model, confirms its maximum availability in providing the necessary clarifications and in exploring any possible room for improvement”. This is the reply of the director general of the Association, John Sabatini.
The Seda service “was developed by banks at the request of businesses – Sabatini continues – to re-propose, within the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa), the functions present in the previous national direct debit service (Rid). The service was promoted within the National Committee for Migration to Sepa co-chaired by the Bank of Italy and the ABI, which was attended by representatives of businesses, consumers and the Public Administration. Going beyond the mechanism based on interchange fees defined at the industry level, Seda expects a contractual and pricing model that takes into account the typical features of the service and the plurality of subjects involved in its disbursement: the creditor companies, all their banks, paying customers and all their banks".
The conclusion of the Antitrust proceeding is set by 31 March 2017.
