Publication Date: March 5, 2018
From February 20-22, 2018, the Paysto team visited Berlin to participate in Merchant Payments Ecosystem (MPE) โ Europe's largest conference dedicated to payment acceptance, acquiring, and innovations for merchants.
2018 was a pivotal year for the European payment market, as it marked the entry into force of the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Therefore, the practical implementation of new requirements became a key theme of MPE.
๐ PSD2 and New Opportunities โ
Most presentations and panel discussions focused on how European banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are preparing to operate under Open Banking.
- APIs and Data: Discussions covered how PSD2 will oblige banks to provide Third Party Providers (TPPs) with access to customer account data (with their consent), paving the way for new services such as PIS (Payment Initiation Services) and AIS (Account Information Services).
- Paysto and Open Banking: For Paysto, as a PSP, these changes mean new opportunities to expand functionality and offer faster and more economical payment methods to our merchants. We actively studied API standards and integration scenarios.
๐ Regulation and Risk Management โ
Another important aspect widely discussed at MPE 2018 was the increased regulatory pressure and the importance of compliance, especially in the context of anti-money laundering (AML).
Participation in MPE allowed us to:
- Strengthen Partnerships: Hold meetings with key European acquiring banks and processing centers.
- Align on Compliance: Confirm that our internal policies and procedures are ready for the new PSD2 requirements and other regulatory norms that will come into force in the coming years (including SCA).
MPE 2018 conference confirmed that the future of payments beyond cryptocurrencies lies in regulation, security, and automation of processes through open APIs.