The European Parliament on October 8, 2015 has adopted the revised Directive on Payment Services (PSDII).
Some of the changes that the new rules introduce are:
- Member States shall require that service providers carrying out services based on specific payment instruments, that can be used only in a limited way (as for example, store cards, fuel cards, membership cards, vouchers etc.), for which the total value of payment transactions executed over the preceding 12 months exceeds the amount of EUR 1 million, have to send a notification to competent authorities containing a description of the services offered,
- Introduction of strict security requirements for the initiation and processing of electronic payments and the protection of consumers’ financial data;
- Opening the EU payment market for companies offering consumer or business-oriented payment services based on the access to information about the payment account – the so called “payment initiation services providers” and “account information services providers”;
- Enhancing consumers’ rights in numerous areas, including reducing the liability for non-authorised payments, introducing an unconditional (“no questions asked”) refund right for direct debits in euro; and
- Prohibition of surcharging (additional charges for the right to pay e.g. with a card) whether the payment instrument is used in shops or online.
Following the Parliament’s vote, the Directive will be formally adopted by the EU Council of Ministers and then be published in the Official Journal of the EU. From that date, Member States will have two years to introduce the necessary changes in their national laws in order to comply with the new rules.