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15 March 2023
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The European Payments Council (EPC) has published the rulebook for SEPA payment account access. The SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) Scheme Rule-book is intended to promote Open Banking or Open Finance across Europe. The API-based optional rules, practices and standards contained in it are intended to facilitate the exchange of customer data between financial institutions and third-party providers. To this end, the EPC has defined premium payment services that go beyond the regulatory PSD2 minimum requirements. One such service relates, for example, to one-off payments, which are regulated by the EU Payment Services Directive PSD2. As soon as the initiation of such a one-off payment is combined with a function that guarantees execution, it is considered a premium service.
The 120-page SPAA rulebook also includes an adherence agreement regarding participation, which is now awaiting signatures. How big the rush will be also depends on the minimum viable product (MVP), which, according to EPC, the SPAA multi-stakeholder working group will define in the coming months and align with the rulebook. The MVP will have enough features to determine what value the SPAA Scheme Rulebook adds.
Another key component of SPAA, to be released by the second quarter of 2023, is the standard terms and conditions. They include a set of standard fees for the premium services and standard APIs. The EPC acknowledges that potential SPAA participants will not be able to make a binding decision on whether to participate in the SPAA until they have a complete picture, including the MVP and the standard terms and conditions.
The EPC is also intending to publish the API Security Framework in the second quarter of 2023. This will be based on commonly available European and international security standards and will define the minimum security requirements for system participants.
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