European Regulation of Payment Services - The Story So Far

Abstract

Payments have been described as the 'oil in the wheels of the Internal Market'. As part of the wider internal market project, the European Commission has over a number of years pursued legislation and other measures to encourage a pan-European 'Single Payment Area'. This article introduces the EU internal market, examines the rationale for payment services regulation, the EU legislative model and the EU's approach to payment services regulation to date. It includes a detailed review of the main current pieces of EU legislation dealing payment services and intermediaries.