The EACB position paper addresses the new package of legislative proposals published by the European Commission on 28 June 2023, including a proposal to replace the current Payment Services Directive (PSD2) with the Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) and Payment Services Regulation (PSR). PSD3 will regulate the licensing and supervisory requirements for payment institutions, while PSR covers conduct rules and operational requirements for payment and electronic money service providers.
The EACB begins its review with the premise that the retail payments sector is already well regulated and doesn’t warrant further regulatory intervention. This said, although we acknowledge a number of positive provisions in the proposals put forward, we urge co-legislators to reevaluate aspects of the draft texts that are cause for concern.
First, contrary to the Commission's announcement that the regulatory proposals represent an evolution not a revolution of the EU payments framework, there are surprisingly many detailed changes compared to the previous regulatory texts. We alert that too extensive a revision of PSD2 will lead to high complexity and involve potentially unintended interactions.
Second, the proposal to maintain the status quo with a free of charge access to bank customers’ payment account data by third parties neglects a key lesson learned from PSD2: open banking cannot work properly without a sustainable business model. Following this line, we reiterate the need for a fair distribution of value and risk among market actors.
Third, the draft PSR proposal to make payment services providers liable for authorised fraudulent transactions would undermine the current balance between liability of users and providers in case of fraud.
Contemplating the package within a broader context, we call for a more comprehensive reflection on the negative effect and unintended consequences other proposals under the draft PSR could have for the functioning of the EU payments market. Please read the position paper to review our detailed comments and suggestions for changes to the draft PSR and PSD3.