Some good news for European citizens as a new piece of E.U. legislation becomes applicable across the single market, constituting another step for further monetary and financial integration of European economies.
Following the application of the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation (MiFID II/ MiFIR), as of January 13th the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) also came into effect, obliging payment institutions (as per Article 4(4) thereof) to charge the same for payments in Euro and Swedish Krona operated in and out of the Eurozone. Therefore, debit or credit card payments all over the Single Market will be charged the same as they would be in the State of origin.
According to Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the European Commission, the new rules on fees for cross-border payments ‘could save more than €550 million per year for EU consumers’. The PSD2 also imposes new obligations for payment services providers such as the ‘no questions asked’ clause or stricter financial data security requirements.
Read here:
EC Press Release: Payment services: Consumers to benefit from cheaper, safer and more innovative electronic payments
More information on EU citizens’ rights: Payment, transfers and cheques