18 June 2015

EPC on PSD2: Almost final – a state of play

The European Payments Council’s opinion focuses on two key aspects of the agreed PSD2 proposal, namely the unconditional refund right for direct debits and the authentication of the bank customer, and provides an update on the state of play of the legislative process.

The members of the European Parliament approved the final report of its Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) on PSD2 at its plenary session on 3 April 2014. On 5 December 2014, the Council of the EU agreed its final compromise text on PSD2.

The next step was the so-called ‘trialogue’ process during which the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU agreed the final version of the forthcoming PSD2 on 5 May 2015. To finalise the text, a few ‘technical’ trialogue meetings were planned. The PSD2 is expected to be approved by the Parliament in September 2015. This would indicate that PSD2 will be published between October and December 2015 in the Official Journal of the European Union. The EU Member States will then have to implement PSD2 into their national legislation by a set date between October and December 2017.

The EPC welcomes the amendments proposed to Article 67 and Article 87. Under Article 67, consumers making SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) payments can continue to rely on the ‘no-questions-asked’ refund right for direct debits as stipulated under the SDD Core Scheme.

At the same time Article 67 paragraph 3 leaves open the option for a waiver of the refund right by the debtor, which, in EPC’s view, would require a separate scheme if supported by the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB).

In addition, subject to the draft regulatory technical standards to be developed by the European Banking Authority (EBA), the changes to Article 87 should ensure a strong customer authentication procedure which, in turn, ensures confidentiality and security for consumers as well as technological neutrality.

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© EPC