The European Payments Council (EPC) is launching a public consultation on the extension of sections in version 1.0 of the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme rulebook (EPC012-22 version 1.0) about the usage of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA).
In response to the feedback received on the list of ‘eligible SCA approaches’ from the public consultation on the draft rulebook that ended on 12 September 2022 (where the market was invited to share its suggestions), the SPAA Multi Stakeholder Group (MSG) has drafted further clarifications to facilitate SCA usage under the scheme.
The outcome of this new, focused public consultation will be integrated in a revised version of the first SPAA scheme rulebook.
The public consultation will run for a 90-calendar day period from 16 December 2022 up to and including 15 March 2023 (midnight Brussels time).
The SPAA scheme, which is created in line with the requirements defined in the June 2021 report of the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) Working Group on a SEPA Application Programming Interface (API) Access scheme, covers the set of rules, practices and standards that will allow the exchange of payment accounts related data and facilitates the initiation of payment transactions in the context of ‘value-added’ (‘premium1’) services provided by asset holders (i.e. Account-Servicing Payment Service Providers (ASPSP)) to asset brokers (e.g. Third Party Providers (TPP)).
The aim of the scheme is to drive ‘open payments’ in a way that unlocks and creates value whilst allowing for a fair distribution of value and risk between scheme participants.
The SPAA scheme covers messaging functionalities. It is not about a payment means or a payment instrument, but it offers a way to transport information in relation to payment accounts and transactions. It is envisaged that the scheme will evolve further over time to support more elaborated functionalities, in line with market demand.
The publication of the formal first version of the scheme took place on 30 November 2022. The SPAA scheme itself will enter into force in November 2023.
All interested stakeholders are invited to participate in the public consultation by sending their comments on the extension of SCA sections in version 1.0 of the SPAA scheme rulebook via e-mail to [email protected] by 15 March 2023 (midnight Brussels time) at the latest. Kindly note that the EPC will not consider any feedback received after this deadline.
To submit your feedback on the draft rulebook, please use the response template (EPC285-22).
1 Premium services are to be considered as:
- services building on PSD2-regulated ones, but going beyond the minimum regulatory requirements via the combination with (a) so-called premium feature(s). For example, the transaction asset ‘one-off payments’ a basic service but when combined with a premium feature such as a ‘Payment certainty mechanism’, it becomes a premium service as described under the rulebook.
- PSD2 services that are not available via online banking interfaces but provided via a SPAA API.