The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) acknowledges the political agreement reached today by EU Member State representatives on the proposed revision of the EU payment services framework, an important milestone in modernising Europe’s financial ecosystem.
While this agreement is a welcome step toward improving digital payments across the EU, EUTA is concerned that key provisions remain unaddressed and could unintentionally hinder innovation, expose merchants to fraud, and impose disproportionate burdens on businesses.
Key concerns
- Unconditional Refunds for Merchant-Initiated Transactions (MITs):
EUTA regrets that the Member States have maintained the mandatory unconditional refund right for MITs, including recurring payments like card-on-file transactions. This provision may enable fraud, allowing malicious actors to both withdraw funds and claim refunds. Because these transactions are often settled with a delay, merchants risk discovering insufficient funds only after issuing a refund, leading to serious revenue losses.
⏩️ EUTA calls for the unconditional refund right to remain limited to SEPA Direct Debit (as under PSD2).
- Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) Requirements for Businesses:
As currently proposed, the framework applies the same SCA rules to businesses as to consumers, failing to reflect corporate-specific authentication methods such as single sign-on (SSO). These systems are not only more suitable for enterprise environments but can also be more secure.
⏩️ EUTA urges that Articles 85 and 89 of the Payment Services Regulation (PSR) explicitly mandate the European Banking Authority (EBA) to consider the type of payer – consumer or companies – when updating regulatory technical standards for SCA.
Why it matters
The current text risks distorting fair competition, undermining consumer choice, and deterring innovation. It places undue burdens on certain market actors without sufficient justification, which could ultimately slow the EU’s progress toward a dynamic and secure digital economy.
EUTA’s call to action
With trilogue negotiations ahead, EUTA urges the European Parliament and Member States to seize this opportunity to ensure a balanced, innovation-friendly regulatory framework. The final legislation must support a level playing field while safeguarding both consumer protection and the competitiveness of European companies.
The following can be attributed to Victoria de Posson, EUTA’s Secretary General:
“Europe deserves a payment framework that is both future-proof and innovation-friendly”.
“The trilogues offer a vital opportunity to correct course and ensure that the final text supports open competition, consumer protection, and sustainable digital growth.”
For more details, please refer to our recent publications: EUTA Position Paper on Payments – March 2025
About the European Tech Alliance
EUTA represents leading European tech companies that provide innovative products and services to more than one billion users. Our 33 EUTA member companies from 15 European countries are popular and have earned the trust of consumers. As companies born and bred in Europe, for whom the EU is a crucial market, we have a deep commitment to European citizens and values.
With the right conditions, our companies can strengthen Europe’s resilience and technological autonomy, protect and empower users online, and promote Europe’s values of transparency, rule of law and innovation to the rest of the world.
The EUTA calls for boosting Europe’s tech competitiveness by having an ambitious EU tech strategy to overcome growth obstacles, making a political commitment to clear, targeted and risk-based rules, and enforcing rules consistently to match the globalised market we are in.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Victoria de Posson, EUTA Secretary General
E-mail: victoria@eutechalliance.eu
E-mail: info@eutechalliance.eu
Phone: +32 476 25 08 16
www.eutechalliance.eu
