Since the introduction of the Euro, steps have been taken at European level to move towards the creation of a single payments area, aiming to make cross-border transactions for citizens and businesses as simply as in their home countries. Moreover, EU legislation mandates that cross-border payments no longer face any additional charges than a customer would face domestically.
In recent times, the moves by the EU institutions towards a single payments area within the Eurozone have been complemented by the drive of creating a Digital Single Market for Europe. Digital services raise new challenges around issues such as consumer identification, data protection and safety. Particularly the payment sector is now challenged for striking the right balancing between customer convenience and security issues in the rise of online payments as well as various mobile applications to buy and sell goods and services across borders. Against this background, the revised Directive on Payment Services (PSD2), which entered into force in January 2016, is seen as an important step towards a Digital Single Market in Europe. It seeks to open the payment markets further by introducing payment initiation services and account information services. The Directive pursues a wide array of objectives, such as enhancing competition, promoting innovation, improving the security of payment services as well as enhancing consumer protection.
EAPB is an active member of the Payment Systems Market Expert Group (PSMEG), composed of market representatives from both the supply and the demand side. This group helps with preparing and implementing legislative acts or policy initiatives in the field of payments, and the EAPB ensures that our members’ concerns are voiced during meetings of this group.