PSD2: almost there!
Published on 2nd Dec 2015
Following two years of protracted consultation and revision, on 8 October 2015 the European Parliament adopted the proposal for a revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). On 16 November 2015 the Council of the EU adopted the Directive at a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. PSD2 will replace the original 2007 directive and is expected to enter into force in December 2015 (after publication in the EU’s Official Journal). Following this, Member States will have two years to introduce the necessary changes in their national laws.
In addition to building on the existing foundations of the original Directive, PSD2 introduces some new provisions, most notably (and highlighted within the Council’s press release) opening up the EU payments market to providers of “payment initiation services” and “account information services” (third party providers or ”TPPs”), i.e. companies offering consumer or business-oriented payment and information services which are based on access to the user’s payment account. Examples of firms that are currently offering such TPP services are the German Sofort Überweisung and the Dutch iDeal.
To read more about PSD2, the rationale behind its introduction and the key provisions, please see our article here.
