New Rules for Distance Financial Services: What Changes from 19 June 2026

The European rules governing the distance selling of financial services to consumers are undergoing significant changes. Under the revised Directive on the Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services (the Directive), the provisions of the former Distance Marketing Directive have been incorporated into the Consumer Rights Directive and supplemented with new obligations.

The Directive will apply from 19 June 2026 and concerns agreements for financial products and financial services concluded with consumers at a distance. In the Netherlands, the Directive is being implemented through an implementation act and implementing decree.

Although the Netherlands exceeded the implementation deadline, the implementation act was adopted by the Senate in early April 2026. The legislation will enter into force on 19 June 2026, provided it is published in the Official Gazette no later than 18 June 2026; if publication occurs later, it will enter into force on the day following publication.

To whom does this Directive apply?

Whether the Directive applies depends on whether all of the following questions can be answered with “yes”. Only then does a situation fall within the scope of the Directive.

i) Does it concern a financial service?

A financial service means any service of a banking nature or relating to credit, insurance, personal pensions, investments or payments.

ii) Is the agreement concluded at a distance?

A distance contract exists where an agreement between a trader and a consumer is concluded within an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme (such as a website or app), without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, and where only one or more means of distance communication are used up to and including the conclusion of the agreement.

iii) Is the agreement concluded with a consumer?

A consumer means any natural person acting for purposes outside their trade, business or profession.

What changes does the Directive introduce?

The main changes relate to:

• Pre-contractual information
• Withdrawal rights (cooling-off rights)
• Online interfaces

What new requirements apply to pre-contractual information?

The Directive imposes stricter requirements regarding the information consumers must receive before entering into an agreement. Not only the content, but also the presentation, timing and accessibility of this information are now explicitly regulated.

Providers must inform consumers in advance about, among other things:

• the main characteristics of the financial service;
• the total price or the basis on which it is calculated;
• the existence of a withdrawal right and the conditions attached to it;
• the identity and contact details of the provider and the competent supervisory authority;
• complaint-handling and dispute-resolution procedures.

The pre-contractual information must reach the consumer sufficiently in advance of concluding the agreement, allowing adequate time to read, understand and compare products and services. The Directive does not prescribe a fixed timeframe within which the information must be provided. However, where the information is supplied less than one day before the agreement is concluded, the provider must actively remind the consumer of the withdrawal right after the agreement has been entered into.

The information must be provided on a durable medium. This means the consumer must be able to store the information and consult it later in unchanged form, for example via email, paper or a downloadable document. Merely displaying information temporarily on a website is insufficient. Digital pre-contractual information may partly be presented in layered form, provided the information can still be viewed, stored and printed as a whole. Essential information — such as the key characteristics of the financial service, the price and the existence or absence of a withdrawal right — must always be immediately visible and may not be hidden in deeper information layers.

In addition to the obligation to provide pre-contractual information, financial undertakings must give consumers adequate explanations before the agreement is concluded. These explanations are intended to ensure that consumers genuinely understand the financial product or service before becoming contractually bound.

Adequate explanations go beyond merely making information available. The financial undertaking must explain, in a comprehensible manner, the essential characteristics of the agreement and its main consequences, enabling the consumer to assess whether the product or service suits their needs and financial circumstances and to make an informed decision.

What changes regarding withdrawal rights?

The withdrawal right for distance contracts concerning financial services is clarified and strengthened. The Directive focuses particularly on the start of the withdrawal period and the manner in which the right can be exercised.

In principle, distance contracts for financial services and products are subject to a withdrawal period of 14 or 30 days. These periods already existed and remain unchanged under the revised Directive. Which period applies depends on the type of financial service and the specific rules governing it.

The withdrawal period begins on the day the agreement is concluded or, if later, when the consumer receives the required pre-contractual information. The Directive further clarifies that the withdrawal period does not begin if the required information has not been provided completely. In that case, the consumer may still withdraw from the agreement up to twelve months and fourteen days after its conclusion.

In addition, the Directive places the burden of proof regarding the provision of pre-contractual information on the financial undertaking. The undertaking must therefore be able to demonstrate that the consumer was correctly and timely informed and that the withdrawal period genuinely commenced.

Exceptions apply to certain financial services, including services whose price depends on fluctuations in the financial markets beyond the provider’s control and which may occur within a short period, such as certain investment services.

The Directive also strengthens the practical exercise of withdrawal rights. Where an agreement is concluded via an online interface, such as a website or app, the provider must enable the consumer to exercise the withdrawal right through a clearly visible and easily accessible withdrawal function (for example, a button stating “withdraw here”). Cancelling the agreement must not be more difficult than entering into it.

What new rules apply to online interfaces?

For the first time, the Directive introduces specific rules regarding the use and design of online interfaces, such as websites, apps, chatbots and other digital or automated systems.

Consumers have the right to obtain human intervention when interacting with providers through online tools, particularly where interactions are fully or largely automated. This means consumers must be able to contact a person acting on behalf of the provider who can provide explanations in the same language as the pre-contractual information. In justified cases, consumers may also request human intervention after the agreement has been concluded.

Furthermore, online interfaces may not be designed in a way that misleads or manipulates consumers or materially impairs their ability to make free and informed decisions. The use of so-called “dark patterns” is prohibited. This includes design choices that:

• disproportionately emphasise certain options;
• repeatedly confront consumers with the same choice;
• make terminating an agreement more difficult than entering into it.

In practice, this means providers must critically assess the design of online customer journeys, decision-making processes and cancellation flows within websites and apps.

Finally: the Directive’s supplementary nature

The new rules have a supplementary or “safety-net” function. This means they apply only where a particular subject matter is not already governed by sector-specific EU legislation. Where such specific European rules exist, those rules take precedence.

As a result, the concrete impact of the Directive may differ depending on the service, product and provider involved.