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Modulr glossary

FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing financial markets and firms in the UK. It aims to protect consumers, ensure market integrity and promote competition. As the UK’s regulatory body overseeing financial services, including payment institutions and electronic money providers, the FCA enforces compliance with PSD2 and AML directives for banks and EMIs such as Modulr.

Applications

E-commerce:

Reduces fraud in online card payments by verifying the cardholder's identity

Banking and fintech:

Helps issuers and payment providers comply with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements.

Advantages

  • Enhanced security: Reduces unauthorised transactions by verifying that the genuine account holder is authorising the payment
  • Fraud prevention: Helps reduce chargebacks related to fraud.

Challenges

  • User Experience: Additional authentication steps can cause friction and increase checkout abandonment
  • Implementation complexity: Requires integration with card schemes and issuer systems.

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