Bank payment agent and its status in the Russian Federation
- Bank payment agent and its status in the Russian Federation;
- What is the difference between paying agents and subagents?
- Features of regulation;
- What is the difference between a paying agent and a bank paying agent?
Bank payment agent and its status in the Russian Federation
On June 27, 2011, the Federal Law “On the National Payment System” was adopted. It specifies the official requirements for the operation of domestic payment services and the activities of their entities. This category includes wire money transfer operators, bank payment agents and subagents, payment service operators and payment infrastructure service providers.
According to the updated standards, a bank payment agent can be a legal entity or individual entrepreneur. They are attracted by a credit institution, which itself cannot act as a banking agent, for activities within the framework of the Federal Law.
Also, the law uses the concept of “bank payment subagent”. It can also be a private entrepreneur or legal entity, with the exception of a credit company. Banking agents with the status of a legal entity have the right to attract subagents to conduct activities under the Federal Law. If an individual entrepreneur is registered as a bank paying agent, he is not entitled to attract subagents.
What is the difference between paying agents and subagents?
The main difference between bank payment agents and subagents is that the paying agent interacts directly with the supplier of goods and services, while the subagent does not have such a right. To become a payment subagent, you must conclude an agreement with an operator for receiving payments. There is no need for a subagent to register with Rosfinmonitoring and agree on internal control rules to counter money laundering.
Its functionality is limited compared to a payment bank agent. The subagent can carry out only those operations that do not require identification of the payer. For this reason, the subagent is not entitled to accept payments in excess of 15 thousand rubles.
Another important difference is that a subagent has no right to involve other persons to process payments by concluding subagent agreements.
Features of regulation
The work of paying agents is regulated by the law FZ-103. To obtain the official status of a paying agent, a business entity must register with Rosfinmonitoring. This department monitors the economic activities of enterprises in order to counter money laundering.
To accept money in favor of suppliers, the paying agent must open a separate account where the payers' funds will be credited. This account can only be used for a limited number of transactions. For example, the owner of a special account does not have the right to independently determine the scheme for writing off funds, except for those areas that are allowed by law. In particular, money can be debited to the account of the seller of goods and services, except for the amount of the commission of the bank payment agent.
Before starting work, he needs to develop and implement mechanisms for identifying users of the service as part of measures to combat the laundering of illegally obtained income.
The law prescribes that transactions must be made through an online cashier. The duties of a bank payment agent include providing payers with the necessary tools for making an online payment, ensuring the possibility of their use. If these requirements are violated, administrative liability arises, the amount of which for legal entities can reach 50 thousand rubles.
According to a study conducted by the Central Bank, the demand for making payments through banking agents is increasing every year, with an increase of 30-40% compared to the previous year. The largest banking agent in the Russian Federation is Sberbank.
Such a scheme of work is most widespread in the field of housing and communal services. Paying agents are used to collect payments from users of premises in favor of management companies and housing and communal services, after which the paying agent settles with the supplier.
What is the difference between a paying agent and an aggregator?
As for the bank paying agent, its functions are limited by part 1 of article 14 of the Federal Law N161. It contains information about the transactions that a bank payment agent is entitled to carry out. In particular, bank payment agents do not perform legal actions and do not conclude transactions in the interests of the client, but when concluding an agreement on cooperation in accepting payments, the parties can independently determine the terms of interaction and the list of operations to be performed. Having the status of a bank payment agent, you connect to the bank for Internet acquiring. Through the payment aggregator service, online stores (merchants) are able to accept payments in different ways: in cash, EM, using plastic cards. When a buyer pays for a product or service online, an automatic transition to the payment aggregator's website occurs. The client is invited to choose a payment method convenient for him, enter the details of a card or electronic wallet and make a payment.
Thanks to payment aggregators, entrepreneurs do not need to buy or rent an online cash register, transfer information about financial transactions to the tax office. These tasks are solved by the payment aggregator.
You can get detailed information on this issue from a lawyer of A4 Law Firm.
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