This week the Presidency of the European Union released a compromise text on the Payments Account Directive. It contains explicit wording that limits the scope, in order not to include payment services with a limited payment functionality. The present wording of Article 1.4 is:
This Directive shall apply to payment service providers located in the Union. Payment service providers that operate solely as online e-payment accounts providers are excluded from the scope of this directive.
We welcome this change in the scope as it is step forward in ensuring that this Directive does not unduly burden the providers of specific payment products.
We will strive for a further clarification that confirms that with this amendment the payment service providers are excluded from the scope of this directive in so far as they provide products with limited payments functionality such as savings accounts, e-money accounts, vouchers etc.