The European Council has approved the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) Directive. The directive will allow the European Commission to streamline cross-border payments in the common market. It will boost competition between banks and new financial services.
The European Parliament approved PSD2 in October. With the approval of the EC, the directive now becomes final and can be introduced in the national legislation of the different countries in the EU. Countries have two years to work the directive into their laws.
The original PSD Directive dated from 2007. It was revised due to the evolution of payment methods. It now takes into account the involvement of service provider handling online payments. PSD2 also includes stronger user authentication.
Stricter rules will now apply for telecom operators. Carrier billing by telecom operators (payment via the subscription) will be an exception, also for the payment of physical goods. The exemption will only apply for electronic services, such as music or a newspaper and to EUR 50 per time or EUR 300 per month.
Source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/european-council-approves-psd2-directive--1114038