The European Parliament and Council have reached a political agreement on a major update to the EU’s payment services framework, aimed at reducing payment fraud, increasing fee transparency and reinforcing consumer protection across member states.
The deal covers the new Payment Services Regulation (PSR) and amendments to the Payment Services Directive (PSD3). The reforms span fraud safeguards, cash access, data rights, and competition in digital payments.
The agreement introduces broad changes across security, transparency and innovation in response to rising online fraud and evolving payment technologies.
Fraud and consumer protection
The framework establishes strengthened obligations for payment service providers (PSPs) to protect customers from fraud. Key measures include:
- PSPs must verify that a payee’s name matches the corresponding unique identifier; payments are declined if discrepancies occur.
- PSPs are liable for customer losses if fraud-prevention mechanisms are inadequate.
- Any transaction initiated or altered by a fraudster is treated as unauthorised and refunded once reported.
- Receiving PSPs must freeze suspicious transactions.
- Protections against impersonation or “spoofing” fraud, where scammers pose as PSP representatives; reimbursement is guaranteed once reported to authorities and the PSP.
- Consumers must have access to human customer support, not just automated chatbots.
Online platforms that are notified of fraudulent financial content risk liability if they fail to remove it. Providers advertising financial services on major platforms and search engines will be required to prove they are authorised in the relevant member state.
Transparency and charges
The framework requires providers to disclose all charges before a transaction takes place, including ATM withdrawal fees, fixed service charges and currency conversion rates. Companies offering card payment facilities to merchants will need to communicate fee structures clearly, giving businesses and consumers greater visibility and supporting informed decisions.
Access to cash
To maintain access to physical cash — particularly in rural and remote areas — retail stores will be allowed to provide cash withdrawals of up to €150, with a minimum of €100, without requiring a purchase. Withdrawals must use chip-and-PIN authentication to minimise misuse.
Competition and innovation
The agreement intends to promote competition by reducing barriers for open banking services. Banks will need to give authorised providers non-discriminatory access to payment account data, and users will receive a dashboard to monitor and manage data-sharing permissions.
Manufacturers of mobile devices and electronic service providers must allow third-party payment applications to store and transmit data needed to execute payments under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The approach is expected to support the development of secure and modern payment solutions across the EU.
Next steps
With the political negotiations concluded, both institutions will work on technical finalisation before submitting the framework for formal adoption by Parliament and Council. Following adoption, the new rules under PSR and PSD3 will apply across the EU.
Speaking on the agreement, René Repasi (S&D, DE), rapporteur for the regulation, said:
Consumers will benefit from new harmonised rules on the payment services regulation. Mandatory fraud-preventive measures will be enforced and lead to less payment fraud. Banks have to bear more of the burden if they fail to do their part. Today’s deal is a win for the Parliament by establishing a liability provision for online platforms where fraud originated. In certain cases, they now have to reimburse banks who have reimbursed defrauded customers.