The payment system occupies a special place in the banking system of the Russian Federation. It regulates the activities of organizations regarding fund transfers. Today, enterprises accept payment for their goods and services through electronic systems, and some even without opening an account. This is not surprising. Today, many companies run an online business. For example, the Qiwi payment system accepts payments from citizens through automatic machines and transfers them to counterparty accounts for a fee. Does this mean the development of a quasi-banking system in Russia?
The essence of the concept
Paying agents are intermediaries between the population and service providers. Their activity is to accept payments from payers to pay off debts for housing and communal services, carry out other transactions and credit them to their transit account.
A supplier is a legal entity, individual entrepreneurs, receiving funds for the goods (work) sold. Suppliers can also be organizations that pay utility bills, government agencies that receive money to perform their functions.
Paying agents are organizations, individual entrepreneurs, which accept payments from individuals. They are also called operators or subagents.
Legislative regulation
In 2010, amendments were made to the Federal Law No. 103 “On the Activities of Accepting Payments”. A new term has appeared in the arsenal of credit organizations - “payment agents”. An account of the same name No. 40821 was also introduced to record transactions with these entities.
Requirements
Intermediaries fully transfer funds received from payers to the account of the payment agent. Then the bank transfers the cost of goods sold to the supplier’s account, and the commission - to the agent. Accordingly, the supplier does not have the right to accept funds from agents in his regular bank account. Such requirements are spelled out in Art. 8 Federal Law No. 103.
If the special account of the paying agent is not used in the course of its activities, then the participants in the operation will be liable under Art. 15 Code of Administrative Offenses. Agents face an administrative fine of 4.5-5 thousand rubles, and legal entities - 40-50 thousand rubles.
Payment of individuals by payment agents can be received through terminals or cash registers. Equipment should be equipped with fiscal memory and control tape. Used CCP must be registered with the Federal Tax Service. The intermediary must retain all transaction documentation.
Operations accounting
Settlement operations between the bank and agents are carried out within the terms established by the contract. Consider the algorithm of operations. From the day the register of payments through the terminal is received to the intermediary’s special account until the funds are transferred from the agent, the Bank performs the following actions:
- All transactions are taken into account on special account 30233 “Incomplete operations on payment cards”.
- Liabilities to payment agents are reflected in personal accounts opened for balance account 30233. This condition is possible if prolongation of commission payment or accumulation of interest for a certain period is specified in the contract with the agent.
After receiving funds from the agent, the bank transfers the proceeds to the service provider and the commission to the intermediary.
Terms of Service
According to the working conditions of banks, payments from payment agents are accepted according to the following schemes:
- Deposit. The agent provides the bank with funds for pre-financing or as collateral to cover liquidity risk and the risk of incomplete transactions.
- Credit. The agent uses the assets of the bank to cover liquidity and risk on incomplete operations.
Checks
Acceptance of funds must be confirmed by issuing a check. All information posted on it should be easily readable for at least six months. The check must comply with the requirements of normative acts of the Russian Federation and contain the following details:
- Title of the document;
- amount of funds received;
- name of payment;
- remuneration of intermediaries;
- date, time and place of receipt of funds;
- check number;
- location of the banking agent, its TIN;
- agent phone numbers.
When determining the limit of funds at the cash desk, intermediaries should not take into account the money that is intended for transfer to third parties. To this end, payment agents keep two cash books. In the first, own funds are fixed, and in the other - “strangers”.
Upon receipt of funds, the cashier draws up two receipt orders:
- total amount of funds accepted;
- in the amount of "foreign" funds.
In a similar way, account orders are issued.
Work algorithm
Agent powers include:
- acceptance of payments from payers;
- disbursement of funds to individuals through terminals and ATMs;
- provision and implementation of a mechanism for using electronic means of payment.
The activities of a payment agent for the adoption of funds is carried out in the following algorithm:
- an agreement is concluded between the agent and the system operator;
- for settlements in the bank a special account is opened;
- the funds received are first collected, only after that they get into the account;
- the bank transfers the funds to the service provider and the commission to the agent.
That is, payment agents, like banking agents, are intermediaries between service providers and customers. The only difference between them is that the functionality of the agents of a credit institution is much wider.
A responsibility
For violations such as:
- non-use of cash registers;
- the use of equipment that does not meet the requirements;
- refusal to issue a sales receipt;
- transferring funds bypassing a special account,
an administrative fine of 3 thousand rubles is provided. for responsible employees and 30-40 thousand rubles. - to enterprises. An individual entrepreneur can only be held liable as an official.
Other activities
Agents always accept payments in favor of third parties and cannot provide them with any other services. If they are doing something else, then they don’t belong to payment agents anymore. The work of an agent does not bring a large income. Therefore, intermediaries register several legal entities and lease terminals through them.
For the same reason, courier companies do not belong to agents. They deliver goods and accept money from customers as payment. The same can be said of travel agencies. Although a couple of years ago, the Federal Tax Service fined travel agencies for violating the law on payment agents. The reason was that travel agents transfer funds to the operator for the provision of services. The operators had to challenge the decisions of the Federal Tax Service through a court, citing the following facts:
- Travel agencies select and book tours to customers. They receive part of the money just for these services.
- They can work only under formal agreements with operators. These documents do not contain the details of the special account through which agents conduct all operations.
These conditions contradict the requirements of Federal Law No. 103.
international experience
It is worth noting the differences with foreign practice. In the Russian Federation, bank intermediaries are involved in the transfer of funds, and payment intermediaries accept payments. Abroad, the transfer agent provides the funds transfer services provided by an individual only under the guidance of a legal participant in the system. The performance of intermediary functions is related to money laundering.Therefore, the FATF recommends that legislative restrictions on the functions of agents be prescribed.
Current legislation only partially meets the requirements of the FATF. The legislation leveled the role of agents in the banking system. The Law “On NPS” lacks a clear statement of the responsibilities of payment agents. This causes a lot of questions from all participants in the banking system. Domestic law should be regulated, as well as:
- create an authorized agency to supervise the activities of agents;
- to develop a system of registration and licensing of intermediaries;
- specify minimum eligibility criteria for agents;
- regularly check the biography of the leaders of agents;
- to develop a system for monitoring the activities of intermediaries and a system of sanctions for non-compliance with the law.
The implementation of these proposals will enable government agencies to obtain information for building a fund transfer system, increase transparency of activities, and will increase the competitiveness of operators in the market.
Conclusion
Before becoming a payment agent, you need to carefully configure your business model. It must clearly comply with legal requirements. Organizations that already collaborate with intermediaries need to open a special account. And accept funds from the agent only through this transit account.