Eugh stiffens consumers in case of bank card loss

adminonJuly 12, 2023July 8, 2023Leave a Comment

Eugh stiffens consumers in case of bank card loss

In the event of the loss of a bank card with contactless payment function, the european court of justice has strengthened the position of consumers in the eu.

According to a ruling on wednesday, the customer does not bear the risk for payments made after he has reported the loss of a card to the bank. The latter cannot simply claim that it is technically impossible to block the so-called near field communication (NFC) function for contactless payment, the luxembourg judges ruled (case C 287/19). Banks generally do not require a PIN code to be entered for contactless payments of up to 25 euros with NFC cards or a smartphone. The german credit industry raised this limit to 50 euros in the corona crisis.

The background is a lawsuit filed by the austrian consumer information association (VKI) against denizbank’s general terms and conditions for NFC cards. In it, the bank excludes, among other things, its liability for unauthorized payments. It also points out that the account holder bears the risk of NFC misuse if the card is lost, and that it is not possible to block this function if the card is lost. In the proceedings before the austrian supreme court, denizbank "disputed the vki’s argument that such a blocking was technically possible," but not according to the eugh.

The luxembourg judges have now made it clear that contactless payment is an anonymous payment instrument within the meaning of the relevant eu directive and that this allows the bank to reduce its liability. But the bank could not simply claim that blocking the card was technically impossible, although this was demonstrably false. The customer must be able to report the loss or misuse of the card immediately and free of charge. According to this report, no financial consequences were allowed to arise for the customer – unless he had acted with fraudulent intent.

The transmission of payment data via near field communication (NFC) is generally considered to be secure and mature. Since the distance between the bank card or smartphone and the payment terminal may only be a few centimeters, the transmitted data record ("token") cannot be intercepted remotely. This is what distinguishes NFC from bluetooth radio technology. Moreover, the encrypted token is only valid for this one payment transaction and cannot be used more than once.

Since banks do not require a PIN to be entered at the POS terminal for smaller amounts up to 25 euros, it is at least theoretically possible for attackers to draw an unauthorized payment themselves. To do this, they had to get within a few centimeters of the victim’s NFC card with a small mobile terminal without being noticed, for example in the crowds of a subway train. However, this method of attack can be effectively thwarted by keeping an NFC-enabled credit or checking card in your wallet with others, since multiple NFC-enabled cards block each other. This also works with the new ID card with NFC function.

The german federal office for information security (BSI) therefore considers it "unlikely" that cards will be tapped "in passing. Those who fear an unauthorized payment transaction through NFC can also put their credit or giro card in a shielding sleeve that prevents communication through NFC. To pay via NFC, the card always had to be taken out of the shoulder.

A hurdle has been taken: the change in the land use plan for the "edelgraben" business park in lonnerstadt is in dry cloth after the fifth interpretation. At the meeting, a resolution was passed that will – so the council and the administration hope – bring the never-ending story to an end.
Now it is a question of drawing up a development plan for the new "edelgraben 2" commercial area to be set up. "The process is already underway, engineer georg schreiber from the hochstadt office of maier reported at the meeting. Not to be confused with the opposite "edelgraben 1", for which there is already a development plan from 2006. For economic reasons, this has not yet been realized. Even now, no one knows if and when this will happen.
Mayor stefan himpel () had invited businesses interested in locating in the area to the west of lonnerstadt to the meeting. 10,000 square meters of the 3.8-hectare site are to be made available to the municipality for companies wishing to locate there. 20,000 square meters remain in the hands of herbert krafft. The local entrepreneur, who wants to build three halls on his flat, has, according to his own words, "also initiated the whole thing".
As mayor himpel announced, four companies already established in the municipality have made concrete commitments to purchase commercial sites. "They want to grow and move away with their company if they don't get a plot of land", third mayor johann hops (CSU/burgerblock) added. Mayor himpel is not least concerned with creating new jobs.

Access not yet optimal

However, the development of the commercial area is possible only from the south – in extension of the main road. For an access road from the district road ERH 18 the district administration office demanded a left turn lane, the planner explained. This solution is unsatisfactory for some rates. The district should rather "think about a holistic solution in the intersection area", demanded gerrit hoppe ().
The model of a heat supply by a block heat and power plant for the industrial area was presented by graduate engineer friedrich schafer. According to schafer, the main reason for this is the CO2 savings of 300 to 350 tons per year. Woodchips save the environment and resources, and the money stays in the region. The near-warmth also brings advantages for the companies willing to settle in the town. No need for boilers or fireplaces and no dirt in the house. Since the price of oil is expected to rise in the future, the wood-fired power plant is a cost-effective source of heat. As schafer explained, due to the favorable primary energy factor, there are also much lower requirements for the construction of the buildings. At the same time, however, the engineer made it clear that the model would only work if a connection obligation was imposed.
Herbert krafft thinks of the local heating network as a "citizens' project. The developers then had the opportunity to join the operating company. He also showed the possibilities of the demand. He offered the possibility of visiting a similar plant to the councils.

referendums and district parliament still to be paid out

Seehofer versus ude, who will be prime minister and how will the seats in the state parliament be distributed?? These were the dominant questions of the election evening. And also the gleaning and the licking of wounds of the parties on monday concentrate on the "rough" ones power issues in the state and federal government.

But there were also two other votes of the electorate on election sunday: five referendums and – not to be forgotten – the district elections. While the votes for the state election are all paid out, you have to be patient for the plebiscite and the district.

On request, the france districts informed us that the payment is running at full speed. In the district of upper franconia, it is expected that, as in the last election, it will take until tuesday noon for the votes to be counted.

Only the voting district of bamberg land is currently disbursed. According to the preliminary results, district president gunther denzler has won the direct mandate here. Denzler united 27.149 first votes, which corresponds to 48.93 percent of the first votes.

The names of the remaining candidates elected to the district parliament are not yet known; also the distribution of the district parliament mandates will be determined only with the arrival of the last voting district results, said the district of upper franconia.

An unaudited quick report for the district of lower franconia will be available on the district elections page. So far, only the wurzburg district has paid out land there. As a direct candidate, elisabeth schafer (CSU) was elected with 37.455 first votes elected.

Individual counties have already published their results for the 2013 district elections. For example, for the voting districts of wunsiedel, kulmbach and bayreuth.

The state election commissioner is responsible for evaluating the five referendums. The press office said that the final result would not be known until wednesday.

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