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The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published clarifications on applying the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), covering the definition of credit, the status of postal money orders, and the classification of fuel cards as payment instruments.
The EBA鈥檚 latest PSD2 Q&As have not introduced new rules, but they do clarify how existing provisions should be interpreted in practice.
They provide answers to questions submitted in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Credit extension to payment institutions
In response to a question by an individual, the banking regulator has clarified the status of consumer credit.
It confirmed that credit granted by payment institutions under Article 18(4) of PSD2 is not limited to consumers, but can also be extended to legal entities, provided all four conditions under that article are met.
These are that the credit is ancillary to a payment transaction, is repaid within 12 months, is not funded from safeguarded client funds, and is supported by appropriate own funds.
The clarification rests on the PSD2 definition of a payment service user, which includes both natural and legal persons.
This answer is particularly beneficial to both fintechs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Fintechs could use this information to expand their customer bases, and the answer should give them greater confidence to compete with traditional banks in offering corporate payment solutions, as long as the credit is PSD2 compliant.
SMEs, meanwhile, gain access to short-term credit outside of traditional and incumbent banks.
Only paper-based postal money orders excluded from PSD2
The next was to a 2022 question submitted by a national competent authority and reaffirmed that only paper-based postal money orders are excluded from the scope of PSD2 under Article 3.
Electronic postal transfers do not benefit from this exclusion, even if they operate within the same accounting systems as paper-based ones.
This could hit postal operators in the EU, such as bpost in Belgium and France鈥檚 La Banque Postale, depending on their current level of compliance with the regulation.
The EBA also confirmed that postal operators licensed as payment institutions can provide both PSD2-regulated and non-regulated services, as long as they comply with Article 18 of the regulation.
It also clarified that PSD2 does not prohibit the same payment account from receiving funds from both PSD2-regulated and excluded transactions, although safeguarding and segregation rules under Article 10 still apply.
Fuel cards can be considered payment instruments
The EBA also provided a detailed of whether fuel cards qualify as 鈥減ayment instruments鈥.
It concluded that a fuel card that identifies the user and initiates a payment order, even indirectly through a deferred settlement process, may qualify as a payment instrument.
The key conditions are that the card is a personalised device agreed between the user and provider, and that it is used to initiate a payment transaction, even if final settlement occurs later via invoice and bank transfer.
The clarification is expected to help competent authorities assess whether fuel card schemes require authorisation under PSD2 or fall within the limited network exclusion under Article 3.
As a result of this legal clarification, fuel card issuers may now need authorisation as payment service providers (PSPs) if their cards qualify as payment instruments, unless they meet the limited network exclusion.
One of the main beneficiaries of this decision is the national competent authorities in the EU. It gives regulators much clearer criteria to assess fuel card business models, and supports consistent enforcement across the trading bloc.
