Online stores must heed GDPR in limiting payment options, EU legal opinion says

By Sara Brandstätter ( October 15, 2026, 10:09 GMT | Insight) -- Where online retailers disallow customers certain payment options based solely on automated credit assessments, it may violate EU privacy law over automated decision making if it could prevent a purchase, according to a legal opinion for the EU's highest court. The case stems from an Austrian consumer group's challenge to Universal Versand’s use of automated credit checks to refuse payment by installments or on account.Where online retailers refuse to allow certain payment options based solely on automated credit assessments, it may violate EU privacy law over automated decision making if it could prevent a purchase, according to a legal opinion issued on Thursday....

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