Press Release: Payment Services Directive: Commission encourages swift and coherent implementation at national level

The European Commission is to assist Member States in their implementation of the Payment Services Directive (PSD), which following its recent publication in the EU Official Journal has now to be written into national law as soon as possible, and by 1 November 2009 at the latest. In particular, the Commission will set up best-practice workshops and an interactive question-and-answer website. The aim of the PSD is to ensure that electronic payments within the EU – in particular credit transfer, direct debit and card payments – become as easy, efficient, and secure as domestic payments within a Member State, by providing the legal foundation to make the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) possible. The PSD will reinforce the rights and protection of all users of payment services (consumers, retailers, large and small companies and public authorities).