THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CONSUMER: FOCUS ON THE ROMANIAN REGULATION ON THE PAYMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS' OBLIGATIONS

The domain being under research comes within the paradigm already laid down by us since 2009, concerning the legal regime of the professionals' liability regulated by the laws on consumer protection. It comprises the professionals' specific obligations and liabilities instituted ex legis, in their relationship with the consumer and are also regulated in the field of financial services. The research into the obligations instituted ex legis, in the field of payment service for professionals such as payment service providers in their relationship with the consumer implies an analysis of the regulations that resulted following the transposition and implementation in the national legislation of the Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market. The desideratum aimed by setting forth these regulations is to set up an internal community market in the field of payment services in order to assure a unitary regulation framework at European Union level, subordinated to the principle of free movement of these services. One of the main obligations that professionals who are payment service providers have in their relationship with the consumer is that of informing the consumer in different stages of this relation, and this obligation has different content for each of these stages. The general regulation framework regarding consumer information carried by the professional, at national level, is heterogeneous, being statutory in all the fields in which consumer protection is regulated, hence in the field of payment services as well. Highlighting, synthesizing and explaining the information obligations that the providers of payment services have in their relationship with the consumer is a requirement for assuring the transparency, accuracy and for raising responsibility in providing payment services. This is required even more as the opening of the payment services market allows the traditional payment service providers such as the credit institutions to join other new bodies to provide such services. Consequently, indicating the reference points regarding the obligations of the payment service providers in their relation with the consumer, is what the present study intends to achieve, together with the purpose of being the precursors of a Codex in the field, at national level, that would represent a work instrument for both the provider and the consumer, make whole the premises for the transposition of the Directive 2007/6/EC to become effective and efficient.