Dear Customer
Please be advised we have received the below notification from Three regarding new rules and regulations to be implemented on the above date and time.
Please ensure you read the below carefully and ensure you comply with the new regulations by the agreed date.
Please pay particular attention to clause 3.5 detailing the new requirement for direct billing and payforit services, mandating that MSISDN passing only be allowed when the service utilises a username and password functionality.
Addendum 1 Key Ways of Working Principles
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Key Ways of Working Principles are issued as part of the 3UK Code of Practice for Third Party Services (“Code”) and form part of the Charge to Mobile Payment Services Agreement (the “Agreement”) that 3UK has with 3UK’s Payment Intermediaries (“L1s”).
1.2 The Key Ways of Working Principles are designed to promote better ways of working in compliance with the obligations set out in the Agreement, the Code and all applicable regulations. 3UK treats all L1s and business partners fairly and equally and applies the Agreement, Code and Key Ways of Working Principles in an objective, proportionate and nondiscriminatory way.
1.3 These Key Ways of Working Principles (which may be updated from time to time at 3UK’s discretion) do not alter or replace an L1’s existing contractual or regulatory obligations.
1.4 The provisions set out in the Agreement, the Code and the Key Ways of Working Principles do not replace the regulation of premium rate services, the responsibility for which remains with the PSA (and ultimately OFCOM).
1.5 Words and expressions defined in the Agreement shall have the same meaning in this Key Ways of Working Principles document unless otherwise specified.
1.6 The Key Ways of Working Principles are set out below.
2. KEY WAYS OF WORKING PRINCIPLES
Refunds
2.1 L1s and/or their Merchants are required to resolve 100% of complaints within 10 Working Days. 3UK is entitled to apply service credits where complaints are not dealt with in accordance with the Agreement.
2.2 Where a Customer informs us that they have tried to contact the L1 or Merchant or asks 3Uk to handle an issue with a Service on their behalf 3UK will set up a joint call between the Customer, 3UK and the Merchant and/or L1. If, having spoken with the L1 or Merchant, the Customer still
considers that they were confused or misled when purchasing the Service, 3UK may apply a refund of any charges incurred by the Customer in accordance with 3UK’s Refund Policy which we may amend from time to time. If the customer has received a credit or refund directly from the Merchant then a refund will not be issued.
2.3 If 3UK is not able to reach the L1 or Merchant within business hours, 3UK may apply a refund of any charges incurred by the Customer in accordance with 3UK’s Refund Policy which 3UK may amend from time to time.
2.4 3UK’s revised Refund Policy is attached at Addendum 2.
Due Diligence
2.5 L1s are required to carry out due diligence checks on all Merchants and all Services prior to those Merchants and Services operating on the 3UK Network.
2.6 The due diligence requirements are drawn from the Agreement and the PSA Code (in particular section 3.1).
2.7 A summary of the due diligence process that the L1s are required to carry out is set out below: Check and provide evidence to 3UK that:
(a) Merchants and individual Services comply with the Agreement, PSA Code and Payforit scheme rules and all applicable laws (including, for example,
Consumer Rights Act 2015);
(b) Merchants comply with Customer Handling Service Levels as set out in the Agreement;
(c) The services do not or are not likely to mislead or cause confusion to any consumer. Examples of this include but are not limited to deliberately leading a customer whether by way of affiliate marketing or otherwise, in a wrong direction or into a mistaken belief about any service or services that are not directly solicited or requested by the customer to whom it is sent; and
(d) 3UK will not be brought into disrepute or its reputation damaged by the Services. Examples of this include but are not limited to associating 3UK
with disreputable services, illegal activities or any services which are based on deceiving or misleading a customer to purchase them unwittingly or
without understanding the charges that will apply.
2.8 L1s must complete the On-boarding Form for each Service and provide the supporting due diligence evidence requested in the On-boarding Form in order to substantiate paragraph 2.7 (a)-(d) above. No Merchant or Payment Intermediary should launch a Service on the 3UK network prior to providing the On-boarding Form and supporting evidence to 3UK and receiving written confirmation from 3UK that the Service meets the objective criteria contained in the due diligence process. Soft copies of the On-boarding Form will be provided for the L1s to complete;
2.9 L1s are required to carry out ongoing compliance and due diligence checks in order to minimise customer complaints and to produce evidence of such ongoing due diligence to 3UK on request. 3UK has the right to suspend a service or terminate the agreement in accordance the
Agreement if due diligence checks are not adequately performed and such steps are necessary to protect 3UK’s legitimate business interests, reputation, brand, relationship with its customers and customers from consumer harm.
Monthly reporting
2.10 Setting up a monthly communication process with 3UK’s L1s is an important part of working better together. Monthly reporting will include:
2.10.1 Providing 3UK with any On-boarding Forms (a soft copy will be provided) and accompanying due diligence information and discussing the on-boarding process where appropriate.
2.10.2 Providing 3UK with a Monthly check-in form (a soft copy will be provided) on time each month.
2.10.3 Providing 3UK with a fully completed Cross Network Care Form on time each month.
2.10.4 Discussing any issues that arise as a result of ongoing compliance checks.
2.10.5 Providing 3UK with regular reports of complaint and refund data, broken down by Merchant and Service.
2.11 The L1s should flag any urgent issues with 3UK as soon as they arise. Some examples of urgent issues include but are not limited to the following:
2.11.1 issues with Merchants or Services that are likely to have (and/or are having) an adverse impact on the 3UK Network or 3UK’s Customers;
2.11.2 any abnormal volumes of traffic on any Merchant Service whether an indication of fraud, artificial inflation of traffic or otherwise;
2.11.3 daily or monthly spend limit breaches; and
2.11.4 Red/yellow card reports.
2.12 Failure to provide the information set out above shall be considered a material breach of the agreement. Further, 3UK reserves the right to charge its administration costs to Payment Intermediaries where the information set out above is not provided on time.
3. GENERAL
3.1 3UK may charge L1s for all costs incurred in relation to the investigation of any breach of the Agreement
3.2 A summary of likely charges include but are not limited to the following:
3.2.1 Call centre costs in dealing with the initial contact and handling the complaint through to resolution;
3.2.2 Data analysis costs; and
3.2.3 Management time.
Audit
3.3 3UK intends to commence a rolling process of audits with the intention that all L1s are audited at least once in every three year period where 3UK will audit L1s compliance with our
Agreement, Code and these Principles.
3.4 Where the audit shows non-compliance with our Agreement, Code and these Principles, in addition to our right to terminate the Agreement 3UK can issue a notice to remedy and recover the full cost of such an audit as a debt. Further, it is likely that a non-complaint audit will lead to follow up audits and may lead to us carrying out additional, more stringent checks so that we can keep the potential for consumer harm on our network to a minimum.
Payment Flows
3.5 3UK wants their Customers to be clear at all times about the Services they are buying and the costs of such Services to ensure that our Customers are never confused or misled. With this in mind 3UK only consider that it is appropriate for MSISDN pass through when this is as part of a purchase of a Service using a username and password. All other MSISDN pass through is prohibited on the 3UK network.
3.6 Any Merchant providing a Service with MSISDN pass through other than as part of a username and password payment flow may be suspended from the 3UK network,
4. FLOW DOWN
4.1 L1s are required to flow down the obligations in the Agreement to the Merchants.
Ways of Working Addendum
Appendix 2
Refund Policy
Hutchison 3G (UK) Limited (3UK) Refund Policy Document for Payforit Charges
Confidential – This Document is intended to be used internally by 3UK and is provided to Level 1 Payment Intermediaries (L1s) in order to allow L1s to reflect the terms of this policy with Level 2 merchants (L2s)
1. How do 3UK Customers Identify Payforit Charges
If a 3UK customer has used Payforit, the transaction will appear on their bill under the Payforit section as a purchase from a particular merchant. The customer will see all the content paid for using Payforit within the Payforit section, along with the name of the service, its price and the customer care number to call if they have a query about a particular charge. Alternatively, if the customer is viewing their bill on their mobile, they can by
going to the Everything Else section of their bill and selecting Payforit. The agent should check the customer’s bill for pending charges to ensure that all charges are dealt with at once without generating future customer service contacts.
2. Process for Dealing with Payforit Complaints
Explain what Payforit is: a way of paying for digital content and services from other companies that the customer wants to purchase. When using Payforit, the cost of the content or service is added straight to the Three monthly bill or deducted from their Pay As You Go balance. The Agent should then ask the customer to explain the nature of their complaint or request for refund and should be asked whether they have contacted the L2 Merchant. If the content or service is a recurring subscription and if the customer is receiving text receipts or reminder messages from the provider after joining a service, they can reply to the message with STOP or STOP ALL to stop further messages.
Ways of Working Addendum FINAL 280417 CONFIDENTIAL - 5 -
Under the Code of Practice, the merchant service should stop after that message has been sent unless the L2 Merchant does not support this method of opt-out in which case the customer must contact the L2 Merchant to ascertain the method of opt-out. The customer may be charged up to 10p to send the text and must ensure they have not blocked Short Code interaction or the L2 Merchant will not receive the ‘STOP’ message.
EITHER
If the customer has not contacted the L2 Merchant, provide them with the contact number (based on the information set out on the bill) or alternatively the agent may conference call the L2 or the L1. If, having spoken with the L1 or Merchant, the Customer still considers that they were confused or misled when purchasing the Service, Three may apply a refund of any charges incurred by the Customer in accordance with Three’s Refund Policy which we may amend from time to time. If Three is not able to reach the L1 or Merchant within business hours, Three may apply a refund
of any charges incurred by the Customer in accordance with Three’s Refund Policy which Three may amend from time to time.
OR
Where a customer has contacted the L2 Merchant or L1, the agent can explain that the L2 Merchant must respond with 24 hours of the Customer sending an email or receiving a voicemail. It then has up to a maximum of 10 working days to resolve the complaint, and that the L2 is obliged to investigate the complaint and provide its conclusions in writing to the customer during that period. If the L2 Merchant or L1 has not resolved the matter, the agent may consider resolving the matter by offering a refund. Any decision to make a payment other than a waiver or a refund of the charges can only be taken by the Payment Services team and so this must be escalated. If the agent is considering offering a refund, the following factors must be taken into account.
STEP 1
Was the charge levied in the previous 6 months? If not, the agent is unable to assist further as refunds can only be issued under this Three refund
policy in respect of charges in the previous 6 months.
STEP 2
Does the charge relate to purchases made in app stores or where a user name and password was required as part of the purchase? If so, the agent is unable to assist further as refunds cannot be issued in relation to purchases made in app stores and the customer needs to be referred back to the L1 or L2.
STEP 3
Was the customer: unaware of the charges;
- not aware that the service was chargeable ; or
- did not use the service
If yes to one or more of the above and a refund has not been provided before it should be determined whether the customer has been misled or confused about the purchase. The above can be taken as factors to determine confusion or being misled.
STEP 4
Has the customer already received a credit on their account relating to any content or service paid for using Payforit?
If yes, then no refund is available.
STEP 5
If there's no credit for the service on the account, the agent should check with the customer whether they have received a credit directly from the service provider.
STEP 6 – REFUND OFFER
If the customer says they haven't received a credit, the agent should offer to waive or refund the charges up to a maximum of £50. Refund the exact amount charged for the Payforit event. The amount of refund should never exceed the amount charged. The agent should double check
unbilled usage. Customer should be advised this is a one-time waiver and won't be offered again. Customer should also be made aware of what Payforit is and informed to be aware when browsing the Internet of what they consent to and to read carefully all the information that is presented to them.
The customer should be informed of their right (under the PSA code) to raise a complaint directly with the PSA and should be provided with the contact details of the PSA and the PSA complaints procedure if requested.
STEP 7 – PROCESS
Refunds are tagged using the original transaction bill description and then worked back to the initiating Payment Intermediary and also monitored against total transactions in the same month that the disputed charge was made in. Repeat customers will be refused a refund so that this process is not abused.
STEP 8 – ESCALATION
If the customer is unhappy with the refund or is seeking a refund in excess of £50, the matter should be escalated to Three Payment Services Team.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards
Fonix Compliance Team
Posted May 02, 2017 - 12:19 BST