The European Union’s Payment Services Directive 2 has been finalized. Its impact on payment and financial services is already being realized across the EU. One of the objectives of the second integration of the directive is to force banking to become more open, to allow greater innovation and foster better services for consumers. Finextra outlines the last set of changes that have been made prior to PSD2’s implementation next year:
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today published its approach to implementing the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).
PSD2 is an EU Directive which sets requirements for firms that provide payment services, and will affect banks and building societies, payment institutions, e-money institutions and their customers. As well as promoting innovation, PSD2 aims to improve consumer protection, make payments safer and more secure, and drive down the costs of payment services. The new regime will be in force from 13 January 2018.
More services will be brought within the FCA’s scope by PSD2. These include account aggregation services which aim to help consumers manage their finances by bringing all of their bank account data together in one place, and services that allow consumers to make payments in different ways online, without using a credit or debit card.
The directive also has included some consumer complaint reporting requirements similar, it appears, to the role of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
PSD2 also introduces a number of new requirements around how firms treat their customers and handle their complaints, and the data they must report to the FCA.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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