Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will read one note.

I am happy to provide further information subsequently. The intention of the entire legislation is to capture the direct and indirect providers of credit. That is the essence of it. Nevertheless, there is a concern that in a slightly different context, interest-free and cost-free buy now pay later, BNPL, credit which is advertised or provided or both by an entity other than the seller of goods to consumers will still fall outside the scope of the 1995 Act, and consequently, also outside the proposed scope of Central Bank regulation. I am referring to companies, such as Klarna, that are not the providers of the goods, and are advertising that they will provide interest-free and cost-free BNPL credit. It is where the finance company is advertising. The amendment is designed to capture those companies that are advertising directly and publically and not the sellers of the goods. We have been discussed the situation where the seller of the goods does the advertising. This refers to the situation where the financing company itself advertises directly. There is a concern that this was not captured previously. For example, some BNPL providers may not charge interest or other costs to a consumer for the credit which is used to purchase a good but instead charge the retailer a commission on the sale of the good. For example, Klarna could have an arrangement that it will not charge interest but gets commission back from the retailer in lieu of interest. We feel that those companies were not captured by this legislation. That is why we have brought in the amendment.