EBA publishes clarifications to a third set of issues raised by its Working Group on APIs under PSD2

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today clarifications to a third set of issues that had been raised and discussed by participants of its Working Group (WG) on APIs under PSD2. The clarifications respond to issues raised on the portability of ‘wide usage' data between EU Member States and on eIDAS certificates, in particular with regards to passporting, their use during the ‘wide usage' period, and the reliance on the certificates by account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs). The clarifications also respond to questions on the use by Third Party Providers (TPPs) of agents and outsourcees for accessing payment accounts data and on the interpretation of the conditions of "widely used" and "design to the satisfaction of the TPPs".

Background and next steps

In January 2019, the EBA established a Working Group (WG) on APIs under PSD2, consisting of 30 individuals representing account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs), third party providers (TPPs), API schemes, and others market participants. The aim of the group is to facilitate industry preparedness for the Regulatory Technical Standard (RTS) on Strong Customer Authentication and Common and Secure Communication and to support the development of high-performing and customer-focused APIs under PSD2.

The group is tasked with identifying issues and challenges that market participants face during the testing and use of API interfaces in the period leading up to the application date of the RTS on 14 September 2019. The group is also asked to propose solutions on how the identified issues could addressed, which the EBA and national authorities will then consider when providing clarifications in response to the issues raised.

On 11 March and 1 April 2019, the EBA published clarifications to the first and second set of issues respectively that had been raised by the working group. Today's publication is the response to the third set of issues that the group had raised. Four of the issues required the EBA to interpret legal instruments it had previously published and have, therefore, been clarified via the Q&As, which are cross referenced in today's publication. In the weeks and months to come, the EBA will add further clarifications.