On 19 September, the FCA published Policy Statement 17/19 ahead of the implementation of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) through the new Payment Services Regulation (PSR 2017) and revised Electronic Money Regulations (EMR). PSD2 comes into effect in the UK on 13 January 2018, and will apply to all types of payment services firms and e-money institutions.
The new legislation introduces a number of changes including new regulated activities of account information services and payment initiation services as well as new requirements for payment services providers and e-money issuers in areas such as conduct of business, complaints handling and regulatory reporting. Some changes will also affect providers of card based payment instruments in respect of availability of funds.
The FCA provides guidance on authorisation and registration under PSD2 and a new Approach Document. In particular, new firms that seek authorisation or registration in time before the implementation date can use the new application forms from 13 October 2017. Firms that are currently authorised as API or EMI will need to apply for re-authorisation by 13 April 2018, whereas small registered SPI and SEMI firms have until 13 October 2018 to re-register.
It is important to note that some aspects of PSD2 implementation are still in progress at EU level and therefore further updates to the FCA’s Approach Document are expected in due course.