New Payment Services Directive
PSD (Payment Services Directive) is the payment services directive that created the uniform legal framework for euro payments within the EU in 2009 and thus also for SEPA in Europe. It will also apply in Switzerland from 2018.
Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2 or PSD II) refers to the revised directive in its second and extended edition - it additionally defines the market opening for third-party providers (TPP) in payment traffic.
PSD2 envisages opening up payment transactions in the EU area to non-banks (i.e. third parties) in order to promote innovation and competition. At the same time, consumer protection is to be increased. Behind the new directive is also the declared intention to generally reduce costs in payment traffic and increase security through new providers, new solutions and increased competition.
Effects of PSD2
PSD2 thus creates new rules of the game in payment traffic with effects for all participants: for the market, for consumers and above all for banks. The latter are obliged to create access or interfaces for third parties via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) (XS2A) so that they can participate in the banks' payment transactions.
Specifically, third parties will receive "non-discriminatory access" to customer accounts (access to account) with the basic functions "initiation of payments" and "retrieval of account information". The topics of security and liability are therefore also currently under discussion.
The revised PSD2 Payment Services Directive was formally approved and adopted by the European Parliament in October 2015. EU member states are required to adapt their national legislation to the new guidelines. Specifically, the new directive is to be implemented within two years and applied from 13 January 2018.
Opportunities and risks of PSD2
The passive approach to PSD2: The new directive can be implemented by banks and limited to the specified minimum. In this case, TTPs (Third Party Providers) with existing or new services in payment traffic gain access and the bank is forced to share functions and data that were previously managed exclusively with third party providers.
Active scenarios at the other end of the scale: The bank is acting offensively, even opening up further, developing new services and smart functions in order to inspire and retain customers through concrete additional benefits. In this way, it anticipates services and does not leave the field of additional services exclusively to third-party providers.
TTPs are then not necessarily only external "intruders", but also possible cooperation partners. For innovative banks, API banking offers new and larger playing fields - with all the opportunities to successfully occupy terrain and additionally distinguish themselves in the market as a customer-friendly service provider.
Further texts on such guidelines on payment traffic in Switzerland can be found at www.iso-20022.ch
