Central Bank of Russia considers prohibiting price differentiation by payment method to level playing field for fintech, banks
MOSCOW. Nov 18 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia proposes to define the rules for non-discriminatory access to marketplaces, starting with a ban on setting different prices depending on the payment method, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.
On a number of occasions, the government, the Central Bank and market participants have publicly discussed the loyalty programs of marketplaces, which offer customers discounts on goods when paying with cards from their subsidiary credit organizations. Banks have criticized this approach, citing unfair competition.
"We indeed constantly discuss this issue, meet with banks and with marketplaces separately and together, and listen to the arguments. And what does this indicate? What appears on the surface, and not only on the surface, as a conflict between marketplaces and banks, is a reflection of the changing nature of competition, and a systemic one at that, in the conditions of a platform economy. We are all accustomed to saying that the platform economy is not only about marketplaces, but also the banks themselves, which sell non-financial products on their platform. And the question arises regarding what competition is fair. Because everyone agrees - both marketplaces and banks - that there should be competition, but it should be fair. So, what constitutes bona fide, fair competition in the conditions of the emerging platform economy is something we are discussing with the government and market participants, because there really are a lot of details," Nabiullina said at the Focus on the Client forum.
"But here is where my position probably has even become somewhat more defined: I believe that different prices should not be used; the price should not be different depending on which payment method is chosen. Why? Because the price of a product or service is what largely determines a person's choice. If there is price manipulation through certain payment methods, it is very difficult to ensure there are no abuses, and so on," she said.
There is a need to specify certain rules for non-discriminatory access to marketplaces, Nabiullina said.
"I think we should start in particular with banning some of those practices that clearly violate this competitive environment, including, for example, the use of different prices depending on the payment method used. It seems to me that this will already remove one part of the problem, but I think that with the development of the platform economy, more and more such issues will arise. This doesn't mean that we can now regulate everything definitively and for a long time. We will have to proceed step by step and create conditions for fair competition between different participants," she said.
Participating in the discussion, the head of Sberbank, Herman Gref, said that the marketplaces Ozon and Wildberries are large enough companies to stop using the practice of price differentiation by payment method. "In their place, I would simply remove it. Honestly, it's shameful to engage in such practices," Gref said.
