Wednesday 12th February, 2014

The European Central Bank (ECB), has published its legal opinion on a new directive regulating the development of the European Market for electronic payments, taking into account developments in e-commerce and the introduction of new solutions. The opinion was issued at the request of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.

The ECB strongly supports the objectives and the content of the proposed directive, in particular, the proposal to broaden the list of services to include; payment initiation services and account information services. According to the ECB, this measure will support innovation and competition in retail payments.

Payment initiation services are those in which a third party provider initiates a payment at the request of the payer, typically in online purchases as an alternative to credit cards. Account information services are able to provide consolidated information on different accounts (in one or more banks) that might be held by one individual, helping to provide a comprehensive view of its financial situation.

The ECB has also made a number of detailed suggestions to enhance the security of payment initiation and account information services.