Improved access to payment systems for non-bank Payment Service Providers (PSPs) is a key component of the third pillar of the EU Retail Payment Strategy and one of the core objectives in the G20 roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. In the EU, this policy goal could benefit payments greatly by fostering competition and innovation. It could also aid financial inclusion. However, there are barriers to overcome in order to put authorised regulated payment institutions (PIs) and electronic money institutions (EMIs) on equal footing with banks from an access perspective.
By enacting the Electronic Money Directive (EMD) and the Payment Services Directive (PSD), the EU took the groundbreaking decision to establish new forms of payment service providers - EMIs and PIs - reflecting that payments could be facilitated without a full banking licence. This spearheaded a tremendous level of innovation in the financial sector, and in the payments industry in particular. Now, over a decade later, it is right for the EU to continue that progress and reflect the fact that institutions do not necessarily need a banking licence to access the payments infrastructure.
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Read the original paper here. |
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Check to see who supports the call for direct access here.