Update Digital Finance Summit 2023

Main Takeaways

PSD3, PSR, FiDA

The projected PSD3 (Payment Service Directive) and the PSR (Payment Service Regulation) will bring important changes in the payments world.

PSD3 covers prudential aspects, including the merger with the EMI Directive, the review of the payment services, the direct access of payment institutions to the clearing systems in the EU and some minor changes in the definitions.

The PSR covers the rules of conduct, including the adaptions to some exclusions, such as the one of the commercial agent, stricter conditions for the banks to exclude companies from getting a bank account, the obligation for the ASPSP (Account Servicing Payment  Service Providers – mainly the banks) to provide to their clients a dashboard of its permissions, the dedicated interface for TPPs, and the name of the Beneficiary and IBAN check.

The projected (FiDA: Financial Information Data Act) aims to provide better access to consumer and firms’ financial data, also including non-payment data, hence enabling more innovative financial services. Banks must open the data to regulated FISP (Financial Data Information Service Providers), but this will be subject to a Data Sharing Scheme.

These regulatory initiatives, which are expected to be enacted and become applicable in 2025-26 are a good step in the trend to move from open banking to open finance.

Cybersecurity remains a hot topic

Cybersecurity remains high on the agenda, in particular the developments linked to Quantum technology: this might provide new tools for hackers, but also new opportunities to improve security.

In April 2023, the Commission proposed a targeted amendment to the EU Cybersecurity Act. The proposed amendment will enable the future adoption of European certification schemes for ‘managed security services’ covering areas such as incident response, penetration testing, security audits and consultancy.

Companies need to make a thorough risk assessment including also the supply chain. The emphasis should be both on detecting intrusion and extrusion (mala fide extraction of data out of the company).

Also, SME’s will have to implement the ISO standards, put the controls in place and implement them.

Regulation as an opportunity

We are confronted in the EU with a regulatory tsunami of new or projected regulations (PSD3, PSR, FiDA, MiCA, DORA, Open AI Act, etc.). Several panel members see regulation as an opportunity.

The projected Data Governance Act, will enable a larger data collaboration, and the creation of new business models, with the emergence of data intermediaries.

Another example of this is the EU AI Act, which aims to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure better conditions for the development and use of this innovative technology.

A fantastic ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation

I have spent also a long time discussing with Fintech entrepreneurs. There are a lot of interesting projects transpiring innovation. The Fintech world is an ecosystem where agility, entrepreneurship, compliance and technological innovation co-exist and create a strong emulation cocktail.

Conclusion

This conference was a good forum to get an insight into the Belgian FinTech market. I saw a lot of interesting initiatives and consider that Fintech will bring a lot of added value in the payments and corporate treasury landscape.

If you want to learn more on this topic, I invite you to attend the one-day training session, which I animate on the topic on March 22, 2024: “PSD2 & 3 and the PSR: impact on open banking and the financial ecosystem”: https://www.febelfin-academy.be/nl/opleidingen/psd2-3-and-the-psr-impact-on-open-banking-and-the-financial-ecosystem-1