PSD II: an update on the implementation and the final RTS and guidelines

Article
NL Law

Despite considerable industry pressure, the Netherlands failed to implement the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD II) on time. The implementing Act is now expected to enter into force in the summer of 2018.

As part of promoting of the development and use of innovative payment services, PSD II will regulate two types of payment services: account information and payment initiation services. In addition, PSD II aims to enhance customer protection, security and competition between payment service providers.

Although the implementation has been delayed on a national level, the implementation on a European level remains in full process because of, among other things, the adoption of the regulatory technical standards (RTS) by the European Commission (EC) and the finalisation of guidelines by the European Banking Authority (EBA).

We list (in chronological order) the RTS and guidelines which until now have been finalised or adopted under PSD II.

The following RTS have been adopted by the EC:

  • On 23 July 2017 the EC has adopted the RTS specifying the framework for cooperation and exchange of information between competent authorities for passport notifications. The technical standards will ensure that information about payment institutions and e-money institutions that carry out business in one or more EU Member States is exchanged consistently between the national authorities.
  • On 27 November 2017 the EC adopted the long awaited RTS on strong customer authentication and common and secure communication. These will be effective as per 13 September 2019.The most important elements are that:
    • the authentication of a customer must be based on two (or more) elements which can be categorized as: knowledge (e.g. a password or code), possession (e.g. a card or mobile phone) and inherence (e.g. finger print or iris scan). The successful authentication will not be completed until the customer has entered a one-time password (such as a code sent by text), so there will de facto a three step authentication (3FA); and
    • the existing practice of third party payment providers without identification to use data that appears on the customer's screen from one application to translate it into another (which is also known as 'screen scraping') will no longer be allowed once the RTS become into force.

The following guidelines have been finalised by the EBA:

  • On 7 July 2017 the EBA published its final guidelines on how to stipulate the minimum monetary amount of the professional indemnity insurance (PII) or other comparable guarantee for third party payment providers.
  • On 11 July 2017 the EBA published its final guidelines on the information to be provided by applicants intending to obtain authorisation as payment and electronic money institutions as well as well as to register as account information service providers. These guidelines specify the detailed documentation that applicants are required to submit to national competent authorities for the purpose of authorisation or registration.
  • On 27 July 2017 the final guidelines from the EBA on major incident reporting were published. The guidelines set out the criteria, thresholds and methodology to be sued by payment service providers in order to determine whether an operational or security incident should be considered major and, therefore, be notified to the competent authority in the home member state.
  • On 13 October 2017 the final guidelines from the EBA on procedures for complaints of alleged infringement of PSD II were published. These guidelines govern the process through which payment service users and other interested parties can submit complaints to the competent authorities.
  • On 12 December 2017 the EBA published the final guidelines on security measures under PSD II. These guidelines aim to ensure that payment service providers have in place appropriate security measures to mitigate increased operational and security risks arising from electronic payments.

The status of the other RTS and EBA guidelines under PSD II can be found here. The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) has determined that all (available) guidelines will enter into force at the moment PSD II has been implemented in the Netherlands, with the exception of the RTS on Strong Customer Authentication & Secure Communication under PSD2, which will enter into force on 13 September 2019.