On Thursday morning, Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on the Payment Services Regulation (PSR) and the Third Payment Services Directive (PSD3).

The regulation aims to harmonise payment services and strengthen fraud prevention across the EU. It applies to payment services provided by banks, post-office giro and payment institutions, as well as technical service providers supporting payment services, and in some cases electronic communications providers and online platforms. The directive seeks to ensure fair competition among payment service providers (PSPs), by addressing authorisation and supervisory powers, and to improve access to cash, particularly in remote areas.

Protecting customers from fraud

If a PSP fails to implement appropriate fraud prevention mechanisms, it will be liable for covering customers’ losses. PSPs will be required to check that a payee’s name and unique identifier match. In cases of discrepancies, the PSP will have to refuse the payment order…