Open Banking Europe* (OBE) launches project to build PSD2 directory following a stakeholder consultation started in 2016 to determine industry requirements, OBE commits to providing a compliance-driven directory solution to support market actors in meeting PSD2 access-to-account provisions. Today OBE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Konsentus, announced the launch of a directory project to support payment service providers (PSPs) and third party providers (TPPs) in meeting the access-to-account requirements of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2). The aim of the project is to deliver a pan-European directory providing relevant information on account-servicing PSPs (ASPSPs) and TPPs for access by the latter to payment accounts.
OBE’s initiative follows a call by the ERPB on 12th June 2017 for a “common, secure, resilient, reliable and up to date Directory Service on a pan-European level, which should be delivered by the market and should consist of shared information on ASPSPs and TPPs.”
OBE recognises that the PSD2 implementation process would benefit from collaborative action on a number of crucial practical elements needed for the PSD2- compliant handling of access-to-account requirements.
In this context, the intense debates within the industry over the past 18 months on the pre-requisites for a safe and efficient co-operation between AS-PSPs and TPPs (as payment initiation services providers) have clearly shown the need for an appropriate directory service. To respond to this need, OBE started looking into the topic with interested banks a year ago and is now gearing up to engage in a development project based on the results of a consultation conducted among this potential user community. At present, an initial working group including 15 banks from 12 countries is discussing the technical requirements for a pan-European directory.
“There is an obvious need for an operational directory to support both ASPSPs and TPPs. TPPs will need a single point of reference to locate the interfaces of ASPSPs, which in turn will require a single point of reference to identify TPPs authorised to access those interfaces,” said John Broxis, Managing Director, Open Banking Exchange.
“Beyond these key requirements to be tackled by such a directory, there are many possibilities for additional services aimed at reducing costs, improving security and reducing fragmentation.”
*previously Open Banking Europe; now Open Banking Exchange (OBE) Europe.
